Bedtime at Four

These are the days.

When I help my daughter fall asleep at night. One minute she is in tears anticipating a nightmare. The next she is smirking because she says it’s better to have a silly dream, and she wants to have one about a motorcycle.

These are the days when we lie in bed facing each other, our eyes closed. I sneak mine open to catch one more glimpse of her face. She is doing the same to me, and we smile, caught like true loves stealing glances at each other. Then we close our eyes again.

She is my little love, and before she falls asleep, she takes my hand and holds it like a teddy bear. She remembers to kiss me goodnight and says, “I love you Mommy.”

She sleeps, and the angels babysit for a while. A miracle of beauty.

These are the days.