Tender moments with my kids

Both my kids are quite different in their own styles. One of it has to do with sleep.

When Ryan was a baby, he slept in the sarung and we would put him in and set the electronic timer in motion and voila! he will soon be in la-la land. However, we were always fearful about the times we would be away on holiday, how will we be dragging the sarung etc. around??

With Megan, we have conditioned her to sleep on the bed. Although she is on the sarung in nanny's house, at home, she goes on the bed.

Because they both have different bedtimes, Megan about 9-ish while Ryan is about 10-ish, the juggling has to be done right so that while I put Megan to sleep, Ryan is occupied with activities, toys, games etc. so that he does not feel left out.

Tonight was no different and he was on the NET playing with his Handy Manny game. I had gone to put Megan to sleep at 9.30pm and by 10.15pm, she was still nursing! Wow, I had not realised cause I drifted off to la-la land already. What woke me was Ryan's soft steps into the room, he wanted to tell me that the computer had stopped working and he wanted me to go have a look.

I gave him a hand gesture which said "Wait, I will come". He looked at me and then he walked out. Some minutes later, I could feel him next to me cause he got bored outside. This time, he gave me a smile. I gestured the same. After a long while, I could not hear him nor see him. Hmm, quite unusual.

When Megan finally drifted off, I went out to find Ryan playing quietly with his toys and he was telling me "Mummy, I want bread, I am so hungry." Wow, I felt so proud of him, cause I thought that he was actually quite matured considering he is only 4 years old.

Later we sat down for a light supper, fresh milk with biscuits and bread. He was happy all the way and finally went to sleep at 11pm. Barely 10 minutes and he already went off to a good night's rest.

While he was sleeping, I lay beside him watching him sleep and wondered where did all those nights go where I had to pacify him when he was sick, when he was agitated by his tooth growing, the nights when he would nurse and refused to be put down on the bed, the nights I lost my cool and the nights when he was still in my bed. Now, my little baby is growing to be on his own and insist that he sleeps with daddy cause he has his own mattress, he is insisting that he does things on his own simply because he is a "big boy". Sometimes he pushes me away saying that he does not need my help. While I am proud, I am also tearful, although they are tears of joy and pride.

When I sleep at night with Megan and I wake with her by my side, I cannot help but to wonder when she will also tell me that she does not need me, when she will finally graduate from mummy's bed to her own. Megan now takes comfort in knowing that I am around her when she fusses at night. She will soon one day be able to comfort herself quite well without me. I cannot wait for that to happen because it means she has grown really well, but to some extent I also dread that moment. Selfish me ya?

Sigh, these are tender moments in my life which I would protect and preserve for me to reflect and smile, one fine day in the future. What are some of your tender moments with your kids?