love actually

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around. 

This is about as good as it gets around here these days. The oldest will usually do what you ask if you bribe him with something cool. The middle is almost 3. Enough said. And well, the youngest hates being confined- especially by his brothers- and all he really wants to do is climb up the chair and bounce while looking out the window.

 In a life consumed with messes, bickering, fighting, potty talk, and yelling, it does a mother's heart good to see her children love on each other. It may be hard to spot sometimes, but it's there. It's found in the bedtime secrets, the morning greetings, after-nap snuggles, the mountain of laundry they find joy building forts in, a bad dream that wakes them crying- worried about their brother, the giggles to the jokes only they find funny, polite manners that happened without encouragement first, sincere apologies, and a special affection for a certain baby brother.

I am proud of these little boys. Proud of who they are becoming, and yet I can fully accept and love them just they way they are right now. That's the amazing thing about love.

And the amazing thing about having 4 males in my life is that my odds of getting flowers in the future has increased exponentially over the last few years. Baby Girl and I are gonna be blessed, big time.