Savoring the Extra Day

Things I wished I had done today on Leap Day:

1. Spent more time inhaling the sweet smell of my baby boy's hair.
2. Sleeping in
3. Reading
4. Laughing with a friend
5. Writing

Things I actually did today:

1. Idled in traffic
2. Rushed to work
3. Worked at a tedious job
4. Went to the dentist
5. Gave three kids messy baths and counted the minutes until bedtime

The best part of the day:

After rushing through dinner and cajoling three hyper, semi-clean kids into bed, I was in the middle of a half-hearted attempt to tackle the sink full of dishes when I caught myself and stopped.  I went into my daughter's room. She was still awake. She asked me earlier to read her a book. I said "No, too late, time for bed, c'mon, let's go! Brush your teeth! Hurry up!"

Seriously? Too late?

Who turns down a 5 year old's request to sit and read with them? What had my day been about?

Somewhere in the middle of all that I had to do today and all that I wished I had done, was the one absolute, certain thing I should have never hesitated to do.

Read to my daughter.

My 5 year old bundle of curls and spirit and attitude and love who one day will be 11, going on 15, going on 25. I will ask her to stop and sit with me and talk with me and laugh with me and she will be busy with her own world and her own life and remember the times when she was a little girl and she asked me to read to her and I said, No.

I curled up next to her and we read a book about a little boy who imagines what it is like to live in the jungle. She told me about the new eraser she got at school today and how she can't wait for her birthday.

It was the best fifteen minutes of my whole day.