The first time we met

William is going through some separation anxiety issues, so he is crying at bedtime. Tonight Elliott came downstairs from his bedroom and said "Mommy, William needs you!" I knew Elliott wouldn't be able to go to sleep with William still crying, so I just brought E. up into my lap to wait with me. We were sitting at the computer, so we pulled up the pictures of his birth (not his actual entry, rest assured!) We have an iPhoto album of pictures of the two of us together for the first time, minutes after his birth, as well as him with various family members later that day. He loves hearing me tell him about the first time we met. He also loves looking at himself as a newborn and seeing who all came to see him when he was born.

What a joy to look at these pictures with him. I'm finding more and more as a parent that the best moments are spontaneous. These childhood years are fleeting, and we often have to steal moments when we can get them. Sure, he should have stayed in his room, but had I forced him back upstairs, I would have missed out on a very sweet 10 minutes with him looking back at those newborn pictures and reinforcing to him, in many ways, of how loved he has been from his first minutes on the planet. (William stopped crying in 10 minutes, by the way. He used to be such an easy sleeper, now he is fighting tooth and nail to stay up).

I certainly value routine and schedules, but I delight in the moments that come when I can just focus on the child and not worry about the time or what I think I "should" be doing. I've had to remind myself that no parenting police are going to come barging in at 8 p.m. asking why my children aren't asleep yet.

(Is it ironic that I am writing about this in the context of another child crying it out alone in his bedroom? Let's not spend too much time thinking about that one ...)