It was 7:30am and from down the hallway of our sub-level Brooklyn apartment, as the sun peeked through our hideous safety gates I heard a faint calling for “mommy!” Mommy, only used in particualar times of need. Mom, used during the day-mostly- but not always when the owner of that voice wants to be a bit sassy. I started to rub my eyes, slowly waking myself. I already had ignored the rattling of my first alarm.
As always, Peter answered the mommy call before I, and he was promptly told-like most times- that he wasn’t mommy and to go back and get mommy. There I went, teeter tottering down the hall like a drunken mouse in the light of day. My knees and her out-stretched arms met somewhere between our pocket kitchen and our bathroom. I knelt down and she jumped and we embraced. Morning breath, soaked diapers, crazy natural hair and all. None of that mattered.
“It’s Halloween! We can trick or treat and dress up and go to school today!” I made sure to include the school portion on the tail end of my sentence. She’s missed a couple of days due to a nag of a cold, and I was sure getting her out and dressed would be difficult. She screamed “HALLOWEEN!!” and began her series of jumps on our full-size bed. The jumps awoke her sleeping father and my beautiful husband. When he sleeps, his chin and his cheekbones, and that 3 day post shave that grows so furiously brings me in for a kiss.
We begin to dress and I scramble to gather a quick DIY Minnie Mouse costume for our pre-schooler. Today, she doesn’t have to bring a packed lunch and she gets to dress up as a character.
We step outside and the Brooklyn air is relatively warm. We remove a layer and began our slow walk hand in hand, all three of us. A bright and beautiful orange, rust, and green tree greets us at the corner, standing strongly for all strangers and familiars to behold. The day, despite doing this routine a few times a week feels so fresh and so new. The thought of doing this every weekday for the rest of our lives makes me weak with happiness. If everyday is a chance to start over, if every morning I get the honor of seeing those two beauties, then I have no reason but to be happy… everyday.
Happy Halloween! I hope today feels fresh and new for you too!
This is one beautiful post. I too enjoy the dawn of a new day, a new chance to get the most out of the present moments. Happy Halloween to you!
P.S. that picture is so pretty!!!
The picture is wonderful!