" finish your story"

These days Greta wants a story while she sits at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, when we drive in the car, as Zach packs up for work in the morning, really any time there is a pause in her play.  Zach has created worlds for her that she loves to go to whenever she can.  Zach is by far the better story teller but she settles for me when he is not home.  In these stories Greta and Henry still have their adventures, but sometimes friends come along, usually Mae and Chloe.   All of the trees in our garden have their own fairies now.  The plum tree has Plum Plume, the walnut tree;Wally Mc Nutters, the orange tree; Orangee Bloome, the lemon tree; Lemy, and the weeds belong to Weedy Mc Poopers.  All with their distinct personalities of course. 

We tell stories when we can, but we can easily become distracted with the burning tortilla on the stove, Henry calling out for something, Ollie chewing a beloved toy.  Any break in our story we hear these 3 words, "finish your story".  Even after 15 minutes of a story, where we have given an obvious happy and fitting ending..."so finish your story."  

At bedtime Zach or I will lay in bed with her and read a book or two, shut off the light, then tell her a tale.  It is the same for both of us, as soon as the light goes out we could easily be fast asleep within seconds.  It's a struggle to stay awake to finish the story.  I will often be half asleep, dreaming and weaving in doll adventures.  This becomes obvious to Greta when things just aren't making sense anymore.  She'll nudge me with her elbow, knee, or foot and startle me awake to, yes,  finish the story!  Eventually she gives in and we both fall asleep.

Tonight I got Henry to sleep fairly early.  Greta and I had dinner at the table.  This night she didn't want a story,  she wanted to talk about her favorite friends and why she loved them.  Then we brushed teeth, crawled into bed and opened up Horton Hears a Who, one of my favorite Dr. Suess books.  As usual I started to fade toward the end, throwing in sentences that were not on the page.  Turned out the light, both of us so tired we just shut our eyes.  One minute later we hear Henry wake up.  I need to nurse him back to sleep so Greta hops on my back, we go into my room and lay next to Henry.  He goes right back to sleep, Greta cuddles at his back, reaches for my hand and falls quietly asleep herself. 

This moment after a long day, watching my lovies sleep, I feel warm and cozy.  Sweet success.