Creating a Moment

It was past bedtime. Jeremy was sleeping, Elijah was not. He was sitting up in his bed using the hall light to look at books. My usual response to this would be to tell him to go to sleep. Tonight, I didn't. Tonight I called him over to follow me. I grabbed a quilt and opened the front door.
"Where are we going Mom?"
"Just come with me and see"
I sat down on the front step, pulled Elijah onto my lap and wrapped the quilt around us.
I started to point out different things that were happening outside. I was dusky, close to night but not quite. There were a few satelites visible, but you could still see the clouds out too. As we watched the sky turn from dusk to dark, and the sky gave way to starshine, Elijah beamed as he snuggled in closer.
"This is so snuggy Mom"
My happy boy.

This time outside wasn't terribly long, and he was content to crawl back into bed when we returned inside. But it did give me pause to think. So often I get caught up in the business of the day, that I forget to enjoy the little moments. Everywhere I go other parents tell me how fast this time goes by. And it does go fast. I know I'm not speaking of 16 years in a heartbeat, but these last 4 have just flown by. My babies are not babies any more. Next September Elijah will be in the new class of Kindergartens. Every day Jeremy says and does more and more, not a baby, but a toddler boy. In my heart I want to hold on and treasure each moment, in my day to day living I don't. I wish I did.