The Cream Rises

I once heard an experienced mother describe looking back on the memories of her life as a mother. She summed it up with "The cream rises".

As mothers, sometimes we work so hard to make good memories with our children. But, more often than not, things don't always go as planned. Tired toddlers cry through the entire dinner, a whiny child wants you to hold them instead of walk the hike themselves. I've come to realize that while these experiences may not be what we envisioned for a fun family night, when we look back on that night it will be with sweet feelings and memories. Sometimes we don't even remember the annoying parts at all, merely the fact that we were together, doing something as a family. Which leads me to this story.

The heat wave that's sweeping the nation hit us yesterday. It was hot and humid, and our house only has one small window AC unit, only meant to cool about 200 sq. ft. Our family was sitting in front of the tv just melting. Miss J, usually a ball of energy, just slumped in a chair and whined. More out of a worry about overheating than quality family time, I acted. We all went upstairs and turned our large jetted tub into a nice cool pool! I even put on my swimsuit and got in. Suddenly my kids were happy, and laughing. We had a splish-splashy water fight and felt much better.
Later that night when it was bedtime, we moved the AC unit upstairs to our bedroom and laid the kids in our bed. I laid down with them and tried to get them to sleep. But the heat of the day, the change of routine, and the light from outside kept little eyes from closing. At 9, after about a half hour of everyone laying bed staring out the window, I got bored. We all got out of bed, loaded up the car, turned on the AC full blast and went and got ice cream. I was secretly hoping the kiddos would fall asleep in the car...but they didn't. That was ok though, after we ate our ice cream, both kids were ready for bed and fell asleep quickly.
Already my memory of yesterday is sweetening by the minute. I can readily admit that I had been eyeing the clock since 7 just waiting to be able to put those litte babies down. It was hot. Really, really hot! Sticky, sweaty, hot! The kids were so whiny, and crying at the drop of a hat. And yet, when I think about yesterday, I think about splashing in the tub, a late night ice cream trip, and applying a cool wash cloth to Miss J's neck throughout the night.
And that is what I always want to remember. That is why I am writing it down here. I always want to remember my sweet kids yesterday. I want to remember getting creative to beat the heat. I will always look back on this memory and smile. I will always remember that is was hot; but I won't really be thinking about that part.

The cream rises.