Nights are one of the most precious parts of my day with my boys. I’m not going to lie, motherhood is very different than I expected. I’m lonely for adult company, my messy house eats me alive every day, and there is always that constant struggle to stay calm, firm and positive with my boys and their actions. Solomon is so used to us remaining calm and collected that lately as we’ve been under more stress with late nights of work and being exhausted from my pregnancy that he will call us out on it, “Dad, are you happy?” or “Mom don’t be angry!”. It is so striking to hear him recognize such a drastic difference in us that we immediately soften and reset. I’ve been tempted to rush through our nighttime rituals lately so that I can go and lay down and read a book or have a small smidgen of “me” time, but when I turn out the light and start signing the songs about Lightning McQueen (I make one up each night based on Solomon’s requested die cast characters), Amazing Grace and You are My Sunshine then I can feel the importance of being in the moment and holding it precious. My son is 3, I never thought I would see the day he would wear his older cousin’s hand me downs, and he is in them now. It is going by so fast and I need to cut the “extra” meaningless things out of my life and just sit quietly in these moments with my precious babies.