There’s nothing like waking up early, while everyone else is still sleeping.  The whole day ahead unaccounted for, and everyone is home together.

Laundry started, blankets folder, coffee brewing, I sit just a moment before I hear the click of the bedroom door.  These mornings, when she wakes before her big brother, and I see her legs peeking further out the bottom of her pajamas pants, I’m reminded that like unaccounted for days, these years will fly by.

They make me want to remember the little moments, like when I sat her down to explain that she wouldn’t have a consequence if the circumstances were different.  And, sighing, she looks at me dejectedly and says, “Yeah, I know.  I just don’t even know what ‘circumstances’ are.”

And how she looks forward to climbing onto my lap so I can clean the “ear whack” out of her ears after bath time.

I’m reminded of the moments when she and Calder play together for hours – powering up and fighting villains.  Then each other.

The rejoining forces to take an imaginary hike through unknown lands.

Today, I’m choosing to savor the memory of the small moments.  Not the whole tree, but a few soft branches, gilded with the glow of white light.