Every night my mother, sister, and I watch one of our shows together. Then, at 8:00pm the best part of my day begins. I rise from my comfy chair and walk over to my nephew. At this point he is either tugging on his mother, sitting with his Nona*, or playing on the floor with his dogs and toys. I tell him it’s time for bed and he either reaches his hands for me to pick him up with that tired look in his eyes, or he begins fussing. After all, who would want to leave a room full of their favorite people? We head back to the room he shares with his momma, where I change his diaper and dress him for bed. Then, we go around the room and turn off all the lights but one small light in the corner. We grab a pacifier and walk over to the rocker by his crib. The moment we sit down he calms and curls up in my arms. I begin singing** to him as we rock back and forth. By the third chorus of ‘Redemption Song’ he is fast asleep. His little hand still clutches my hair; his breathing is slow and even. This is one of those rare moments when I don’t think, when all the troubles of my day disappear. I am still singing to him, but I am not really aware of the words rolling off my tongue. I know that eventually I need to put him in his crib and go back to the world, but I don’t want to. I wish moments like this could last forever.
*Nona is his name for my mother, his grandmother.
** I am not a good singer, and never will be. Between my mother, sister, and myself he will be tone deaf.
Awww...what a precious moment. :) I have a little neice and nephews and reading this I could almost feel their sleepy, cuddly selves curled up w/ me.
ReplyDeleteAww! What a good aunt! I just swatch the brothers on their but and say "Yay! It's bedtime!" And Miles and Evan look at me with an expression of "Yay-my-ass" and hug me, while mumbling, "love you". lol
ReplyDeleteKelly, I call my grandmother Nona! I've never come across another Nona, and I was so excited to read about her in your family. Nona is Italian for grandmother, right? I grew up in an Italian-American household and make a mean pot of sauce. How about you?
ReplyDelete((hugs)) Nicole
Rhonda- Isn't it an amazing feeling!
ReplyDeleteCourtney- I am a good aunt! lol
Nicole- Yep, it is Italian (Properly spelled Nonna- but Nona is used in certain regions). We have no Italian in our family. I am, however, an Italian minor and my brother also studied the language in college. When we were deciding what he should call her I suggested Nona and she loved it! Partially because it would be easy to say and because my mother called her grandmother Nano (pronounced nay-no).