The Land of Milk and Coffee

The husband and I aren't all that wrapped up in romance, I have to say. That's not to say that we don't take the time to do nice things for each other but usually it is just part and parcel of our everyday life together. And we have never been much for gift giving either. Usually at Christmas time we buy something that we can enjoy together but that is about it. One year we went shopping together and each bought a really nice pair of hiking boots and that is about as close as it has ever gotten to actually buying a gift for the other person. So birthdays, holidays, and yes, even Valentines Day, usually passes kind of quietly. I suppose that this seems a bit unusual to some and I often get funny looks when someone asks, for example: "So, what will you and Nik do for Valentine's Day" and I try to explain that we don't normally DO anything. Over the years I've learned to answer without answering.

All this kind of fleetingly crossed my mind on Wednesday at about 9am in the morning when, at that early hour, I had already had the best Valentine's Day ever. At 2, 3 and 4am, however, I certainly wasn't thinking about hearts and roses when Sammy was kicking and crying out, grabbing at me and calling for milk like he was a man lost in the desert. We kind of got off track with the night weaning when he was so sick recently and I can never decide if the stamina needed to try it again is more than the stamina I need to just go with the flow, so to speak. Anyway, it was a rough night, compounded by the fact that I was a congested mess and can't take a proper decongestant because of the milk, AND I had been working many, many hours of overtime to finish a set of proposals that were due on Friday. So when Sammy and the alarm clock both went off at 6am, I talked loudly about how wouldn't it be nice if he went to help Poppi make the coffee, then rolled over as they went to face the morning chill.

In my half-asleep, half-awake state I was vaguely aware of Nik later bringing in a silent offering of coffee and juice and leaving it beside the bed. A bit later I heard him praising Sammy for using the potty. Then, thanks to a hit of nasal decongestent I slipped off into sleep. Meanwhile, the weather outside was frightful and the University where I work was closed so Nik decided to just leave me be even though he had his own looming deadline at work and his office was NOT closed.

When I finally came to, a little before 9am, Nik and the kids came in and climbed on the bed. Both Oliver and Sam were dressed and fed, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Nik kissed me on the forehead as the kids climbed under the blankets, then reached over, took my coffee cup and disappeared out the door.

When he put a new cup of steaming coffee in my hands a few mintues later I looked and saw that the clock read 9 o'clock. "You jump in the shower," he said, "and when you're ready I'll head out to work."

So that is why, even minus the hearts and roses, my Valentine's Day and my Everyday is about as good as it gets.