Bubbles in the Dark

Well, by the time I got home tonight, I was too tired and worn out to take the little ones anywhere, so I decided to broach our new favorite activity with them. They seemed rather receptive. After my husband made dinner, bless his heart, we went outside in the dark and blew bubbles. Yep….bubbles in the dark. As we walked out to the picnic table, I sang to them “You and me blowin’ bubbles in the dark”. My 12yr old recognized the tune I borrowed it from and chuckled.

 The only lighting we had was the parking lot lights. It made the bubbles appear as glass balls reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. They appeared almost magical, mystical floating in the night. My 4yr old son pretended that the bubbles were fire coming from a ferocious dragon’s mouth and attacked the bubbles as they came to him! My 5yr old daughter delighted in clapping the bubbles before anyone else could get them, enjoying the competition! My 12yr old son enjoyed capturing the bubbles that flew too high for the “little ones”. All in all, it was a pleasurable half hour of fun, although when it was over, my fingers had a permanent dent in them from holding the bubble shaper, and my fingers were slimy with glycerin fluid. I allowed my children to stay outside for another few minutes as I headed up the stairs to clean the supper dishes and get ready for bed.

When I finally did lie down, I realized it had been 40hrs since I had had any substantial sleep. That is incredulous! And yet, when my little ones wanted to crawl into bed with me and pretend to look at the “stars” in the sky with them, how could I refuse? They both wanted to be close to me, so I had to scoot to the center of the bed while we “identified” various shapes the “stars” made in the sky. My son discovers “Scoop, and Bob the Builder!” My daughter yells out…” I see an apple”, then I remind them of the time and have them hush their volume. I tell them “I see a banana” and both lick their lips and say “yum, yum”.

 At this time, I tell them I simply have to sleep. As long as Mommy’s bubble-blowing hands and arms were on each of them, on each side, they were happy. As we snuggled close, my older sons came in and wanted to hug and kiss me as well. I don’t think they ever get over that desire to snuggle as we did when they were younger. They each took turns sitting close to us and snuggling before they went off to their beds. As each kid went to bed the little ones and I each took turns calling out, “I love you” addressing each boy individually like something out of a Walton’s episode…..(good night, John Boy!)hee hee!

As the room started settling down and the bodies were relaxed, my daughter silently kisses my arm and says “I wuv you, Mom, I’m sewious!” Then, no more than two minutes later my little son draws my face into his tiny hands and looks me square in the eyes whispering “Fanks for doing bubbles in the dark. Dat was weally fun! You are da bes’ mom forever in the whole world!” Talk about emotions overwhelming a body! Pride, love, joy, content…Peace. It was enough to create that inner peace inside that lead me to slumber with my bubble-popping babes.

Nikki Lynne