Oh my sweet, sweet girl...

I take the older two kids to school every morning. Around here we start school very early. 7:20am to be exact. Which means I have to leave here at 6:50am to get them there on time. Which means I wake them at 6:20am. That's very early for my sleepy heads. Too early for the little one. She usually sleeps through all of the bumps and moans. The groggy yawns and the sleepy pleas for a few more minutes. The cereal bowls thrown a little too carelessly into the sink. Backpacks being stuffed, lunches made, and shoes searched for. She sleeps through all of this early morning noise. Steven leaves as soon as I return and for some reason the door closing behind him is her alarm clock. Maybe it's because he leaves in a bundled mess of hurry. Jacket, wallet, cell phone, lunch, keys, name badge, tie all held precariously in one hand. Door slammed with his free hand. (It's ok. We aren't particularly good at mornings around here.) So she gets up, hair matted to face, hand clutching bunny, ready for snuggling. We climb back into my bed for a snuggle in front of an episode of Curious George. That's how it usually goes.

This morning was different. When I walked back in the door, I wasn't greeted by her sleepy eyes. I found her crying on the stairs. Steven was sick today. So he wasn't getting ready for work like normal. He was buried beneath a pile of blankets and pillows in our bed. Apparently, he was buried so well that she didn't think he was there. She thought that we had all left her. That she was home alone. She woke up to complete abandonment. That would make anyone cry. As I walked in the front door, she jumped from the stairs into my arms and cried a little harder. So I scooped her up and we went back to my bed. The trauma of it all must have exhausted her because she went back to sleep. And so did I.

Oh my sweet, sweet girl. We love you so. My mornings wouldn't be nearly as warm without you.