Kids Are A Gift

I was sitting at my desk, late last night, working on the computer. In the other room, I could hear the sounds of multiple boys giggling and tossing in bed, trying in vain to get to sleep. A little background on our current living situation. Shortly after having our fourth son, we decided that our 3 bedroom, 2 bath house was just too small. We set off on a long, seemingly never-ending, journey to remodel the house and add more living space. We have been staying at my in-laws' home for about 8 months now, while our house gets worked on. Lucky for me, my in-laws are terrific (I hope they feel the same about us after this long stay :) ).

During the remodeling the boys, with the exception of the youngest, all stay in one bedroom at night. There is a large king sized bed in which they all sleep together on. The boys ages are 9, 7 and 5, so they all fit fine. It is the getting to sleep part that is difficult. Inevitably each night, I have to play the bad guy and threaten to have them sleep in the garage, if they don't quiet down and get to sleep. Tiredness eventually wins over silliness and the boys fall asleep in a large ball of jumbled blankets and pillows.

On this night, I was at my laptop in the next room and just quietly listening to their giggles. If ever you want a group of boys to giggle, just tell them all to be quiet and go to sleep. It works everytime. I had had a long and difficult week, but I just sat there and enjoyed their laughter. I was very thankful for our boys. They're exhausting on a good day, and frustrating on the bad days, but a blessing nonetheless. I need to remind myself more often what a privilege it is to have kids.