Happiness 101.2

In nineteen hours, Jake will be at daycare for the first time since July 24th. That means I have Quinn all to myself. Just like the old days. I adore Jake—of course—but there is something magical and uniquely sentimental about spending one-on-one time with your first born.

Here are some of my favourite Quinn happinesses:

• We love to be silly together. Tickling, telling potty-humour jokes, eating dessert for breakfast… being silly with your kid allows them to believe you were a kid once too.
• Flour, eggs, vanilla… Baking tops the list of favourite Quinn and Mom activities. Raisin Oatmeal Cookies sounds like a delicious back to school choice for this week.
• HORSE. Have you played this simple game? Try to keep an inflated balloon up in the air as long as possible. Reach, stretch and run to keep it from touching the floor. If the balloon lands, the person closest to it collects a letter of the word HORSE. The last player to spell the complete word wins. This is one of Quinn’s favourite games to play with me. Of course, you can use any word you like. Well, maybe not Supercalafragalisticexpialadocious. Unless you are a marathon player.
• In our ensuite bathroom, we are blessed to have a big soaker tub. No jets, just really deep and wide. I love a bath, especially with Quinn. We fill the tub with water as hot as we can stand it, add loads of bubbles and talk to each other openly about life. When the bubbles are dissolved, it’s time for bed. Surprisingly, even at the age of seven, Quinn is not yet shy about our bodies, or his. I thought this tradition would end around age four, but I am thankful it still remains.
• Quinn loves to be startled. So any opportunity I have to sneak up on him is a guaranteed gigglefest. Lately—and I can’t recall why I ever started this—I have been taking a simple spray bottle, tuning it to the finest jet setting, and blasting him with water right before bed. He tears into fits of laughter, runs and hides behind curtains, under covers, crouches down beside the bed, but I still manage to soak him. It’s hilarious to watch him run and hop around. He loves it.
  
• Then, once in bed—and most nights we snuggle together in my bed until Andrew comes up and transports long-asleep-Quinn back to his own room—we spray our pillows with lavender, tell each other goodnight and I Love You, search for each other’s pucker in the dark—though I usually get his nostrils—and drift off to sleep, often hand in hand. It doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

What are some of the cherished traditions you share with your children?