Maggie fell asleep in the car on the way home from Nana's last night. It is a fairly regular occurrence. The drive is about 30 minutes, so she gets a little cat nap to restore her energy banks for the rest of the evening.
When we got home and I pulled her from her carseat, she opened her eyes and looked at me, then laid her head down on my shoulder, and went back to sleep. I grabbed her bag and my bag, shut and locked the car, and headed across our little parking lot for the back door (we live in a condo).
Usually during this time I am thinking something along the lines of: "So, if I can get Maggie into her crib easily, maybe she'll give another 20 minutes to change out of my work clothes and start dinner/fold laundry/answer email/vaccuum/whatever."
Yesterday, however, as I was walking, I became aware of her soft breath on my neck and her sleeping weight against me, and I realized I've been missing out on this. My mind starts thinking about all the things I can do once she's asleep instead of taking a few minutes to just be in that moment with her.
So, once we were inside, I put down our bags and we sat in the recliner, and we rocked and snuggled while Maggie finished her little nap.
No dinner got started. No cat hair was vaccuumed. No laundry sorted or folded or even looked at. Just 10 quiet, uninterrupted minutes with my baby girl.
I have to remember to enjoy those moments. They won't last forever.
