The secrets of the night

There is a time that occurs each night when the children are in bed and the adults of the house get to let loose and play. The time varies each night depending on how awake the little ones are upon the golden hour: how many times you have to fill glasses of water, hear the toilet flush, kiss goodnight, confirm again that it is indeed time to go to bed, convince them that they really will fall asleep if they just close their eyes and quit moving around.

When it becomes very quiet in the house you know it is time...to play!

All children wonder what their parents do late at night. The older they get the more intrigued they are to find out. Eli is a night owl (and a rooster)and has been known to stay awake past the time his parents have fallen asleep in bed. "I stayed up later then you last night!" he'll boast the next morning. Don't worry...he doesn't try to sneak out of the house (he's too scared) but just reads or draws in bed (or eaves drops on our movies). Now if it was Ian doing this I would have an electric fence turned on around the house!

Well...this past Saturday evening it happened. Eli came in late in the night as usual and smiled his mischievous smile saying, "what's ya'll doing?" I was about to spit out the same old words I always do, "go get in bed Eli" but this time I didn't. "Do you want to draw at the table with me while I paint?" I asked. Eli's face lit up. "Really?" he questioned and ran to grab a drawing tablet and pencil.

And so began the unveiling of the secrets of the night with adults. He got to watch silly giant monster fish shows on the internet with his dad while I painted a canvas and Nate graded papers. We all had a snack around 10pm...of course what adults eat when kids are in bed...chips and even a little peanut butter sandwich for the two guys. Eli thought he was big stuff...I felt giddy that I was letting him be a part of the big world for once...and we all actually had fun just hanging out together.

It was way too late to admit when we finally decided to go to bed. Of course the next morning Eli couldn't hold back the excitement of the night and made sure to tell Ian that he had stayed up late with mom and dad and watched crazy monster fish movies and ate chips! Ian didn't seem phased by the desired jealousy from his older brother (I think he was glad he got to sleep!)

Now when this coming Saturday night gets here...I think I'll have to practice saying those words, "get back in bed Eli" once again. We can't let too many secrets of the night out of the bag!