As a parent, I LIVE for things like this...

Pumpkin still takes an afternoon nap each day. Kiddo usually doesn't. Every once in a while, though, he'll have "rest time" because he really needs it. Maybe he was up late the night before, maybe he didn't sleep well, maybe he's been whiny all morning.

And, I have to admit, every once in a while, he has "rest time" while Pumpkin's napping because Mommy and Daddy are tired, are about to keel over from sheer exhaustion, and desperately need a nap themselves.

I'll wait for a moment while those of you without children finish passing judgement.

Okay. Ready to continue?

This past Monday was one of those days. We had had a LONG weekend (VERY fun, but long) at a camp staff reunion, we had spent the morning taking care of things around the house, Sweetie's been nursing a cold anyway, and our eyelids were noticably droopy. So off to bed Kiddo went immediately after we had laid Pumpkin down for her nap, with instructions that he could read quietly or color pictures.

And off to bed we went.

When I got up to get the kids a little over an hour later, there was a picture Kiddo had colored sitting on his desk:


At the top, in 5 year-old phonics, he wrote "I AM HAPPY AT U R MI SISOODR."

"I am happy that you are my sister."

Yes, it was for Pumpkin.

It amazes me, honestly, that he never thinks of her as an intrusion in his life. She takes time and attention that we could be giving to him, she sometimes gets in the way when he's trying to do things, or plays with his toys when he doesn't want her to...but he ADORES her. I have NEVER seen a big brother with more love for his little sister than Kiddo has for Pumpkin.

Kiddo, I AM HAPPY AT U R MI SON.

LH