Little Kindnesses

I am not a morning person.  Never have been.  My mother can attest that even as a very young girl, I resisted bed time and happily slept late in the morning.  My natural body rhythms just rev as it gets later, and I am sluggish in the morning, no matter how much sleep I have had.  Now, with a 4 year old and a 2 year old and a husband who has to be at work at 7:15am, there is very little sleeping in in my life anymore.  As in, I don't.

However....My husband gets up in the morning, takes his shower, and then collects the girls from their rooms.  He dresses them, takes them downstairs, and they all sit at the table together and have cereal.  The girls love this routine.  This is their special time together, their ritual with their father, whom they adore, and they both love to sit at the big table and eat breakfast with him, just the three of them.  Meanwhile, I get to stay in bed.  I get a precious extra 15 minutes to doze or slowly wake up or maybe go to the bathroom by myself.  This little kindness means so much to me.  It is something my husband does that makes us all happy.  I get to ease into my day before the barrage of little girl needs and demands assault me, and the girls get private time with Daddy.

It is a measure of how much your life changes with children that I am so grateful for the extra 15 minutes of sleeping in.  That sleeping until 7am counts as sleeping in at all would have been hilarious to my pre-child self.  But I am grateful.  It is a little thing that makes a big difference.

I try to find little kindnesses to return to him.  I try to keep his favorite iced tea stocked in the fridge.  I try to notice when his hair gel or deodorant are running low and resupply it for him.  I try to take the lion's share of late night treks into the girls' room so he can get enough sleep.  I try to say thank you for all the things he contributes.  I keep track of his family's birthdays and help with presents and mailing when he doesn't have time.  One of the main things I try to do is to remember stories from the day with our children to recount to him so that he will share in their adorable, funny moments with me.

I would love to do more.  So I'm wondering, what are the little kindnesses that you do for your beloved?  What little things do others do for you that really matter?  Inspire me, and help me be a little kinder.