Having children was a blessing. Up until the point in which they became stubborn.
Trying to get two kids to bed was an impossible task. You respected a lot of parents, a lot more since having children of your own. You never appreciated the time and effort that went into raising kids. Being a Mom was the most rewarding thing life could give you.
The past six of your life were a blessing. The first two years were spent dating Matt, getting to know him for someone other than who the world knew him to be. The following four years were full of memories. Your daughter, Madison, was now four years old. You were pregnant with her at your wedding, and she was the best present you got.
Madison was a ray of sunshine. Her and Matt had the same personality and the way they were with each other was something you melted over. She was a mini Matt.
Six month ago, you welcomed a new addition, Grayson. He was the sweetest boy to exist. He was the spitting image of his Dad, but he had your personality. Madison and Grayson were your world. That didn't mean they weren't devil children when it came to their bedtime routine.
Tonight, you blamed Matt. He fed them ice cream before he had to go to the warehouse, for late night packing and left you to deal with it. You were busy doing laundry, you were oblivious to it all.
You were in L.A because Matt's job needed him to be here, but he didn't want you to be alone with a newborn, so you came over with him. You rarely saw him because he was so busy, but when you saw him, he made up for lost time.
Since the kids were too active to be put to bed early, you had to be creative.
You decided to set up camp on your balcony, which overlooked the valleys. You brought out a mattress and a lot of blankets because it got cold at night.
Grayson was being a bugger and was abusing his new ability to crawl. Madison didn't crawl until she was nine months old, but Grayson was speeding around now. The other day, he crawled through your cat flap and got stuck, and people wondered why you were always stressed.
Madison held your hand as you walked down the stairs, and Grayson was on your hip.
"Be careful" you said, when she nearly slipped. The stairs were tall for some reason, a flaw Matt was pissed at, because it made it hard for Madison's little legs to climb and descend.
"The steps are too big, Mommy" She told you, like she previously did a million times. You held a tight grip on her to make sure she didn't fall.
"Good girl" you praised her when you reached the bottom of the stairs. You let go of her hand and she rushed into the kitchen for snacks you suggested she'd grab.
You took the kids out of bed, obviously understanding they didn't want to be in them yet. Madison liked the idea of sitting under the stars with her family, eating popcorn or sweets. Last time you did it, she asked about your wedding and if it was like Cinderella's.
As Madison went to get the snacks, you went into the living room to put on a record. The record player was a gift from Matt for your birthday.
You stuck on an album and adjusted the sound so you could hear it outside. You were lucky you didn't have close by neighbours to argue about the noise.
Madison came after you, and put the food in bowls on the floor, away from the mattress and blankets. She was crazy independent for a four year old, but that's what she gets for being Matt's child.
You put Grayson down on the mattress because he was becoming restless. Since he learned to crawl, he hated being picked up for too long. To you, it meant he was growing up and you refused to think about it.
