Some Things Never Change

My beautiful moment today was a very small one, in terms of time. But it made me so nostalgic for my own childhood, that I was forced to take notice.

After dinner the kids were watching a movie with their dad and I was trying to corral them for bath time. I finally got Christian undressed and we started our slow trek up the stairs. Tessie was talking to Nick on the couch as I called for her to follow us. That was when I heard the shriek.

It's funny how a parent knows immediately if a shriek is happy or sad. I knew before I turned to look that Tessie would be smiling ear to ear. Nick was tickling her and she was sprawled across his lap, barely breathing through her laughter. It was infectious and we both laughed with her. And then suddenly, as I expected it to, the laughter hit a historical high, then instantly turned to tears.

I'm sure everyone can remember being tickled till they cried. I definitely can. That moment when fun becomes too much fun, was just tragic and yet the victim of this tragedy never gets much sympathy. And tonight, as Nick asked Tes if she was ok and she wailed in reply, Nick and I smiled at each other. We both remembered being in her shoes.

So Nick gave her a snuggle, and I carried her up the stairs to the bath. The whole time all I could think was how beautiful it is that some things never change, and probably never will.