Faster than I ever thought possible. Buddy turned six in August and Buster will be three in just a few short days. While they are growing up so fast, turning into little men, there are times, brief moments, where they show me that they really aren’t that grown up yet. I treasure those small moments.

With both Jdaddy and me working, evenings can be pretty hectic. We often rush through the bedtime routine, frequently reminding the kids to hurry up. Hurry, hurry, hurry. I think if I ever got a tattoo, I would need it to say “hurry” because that seems to be my mantra lately. But all that hurrying causes me to miss out on the brief moments that I so cherish.

A couple of weeks ago, after rushing the boys through their bedtime routine, it was time to read. Jdaddy was reading to Buddy, while I rocked and read to Buster. After we finished reading, Buster helped me turn out the light and I rocked him for a couple minutes longer, part of our normal routine. When I had had enough, I told him it was time for bed and asked Buster for my hug and kiss. Instead of complying, Buster looked up at me with his big, round eyes and quietly asked, “Two more minutes, mommy?”

I’m not usually a sucker for those kinds of requests, but perhaps it was how he asked, or the look in his eyes, or the fact that I was so tired that I didn’t want to argue, but I said okay. And so we rocked.

After two minutes, Buster’s breathing had evened out and became deeper, so I continued to rock. Two minutes later, his head started to slide down my shoulder, so I continued to rock. And then he scooted himself so that his head was in the crook of my arm, me cradling him. I continued to rock.

The next few minutes were so tender and sweet, that even now, weeks later, I tear up just thinking about it.

Buster looked up at me with his big, round eyes and held his gaze while reaching up and touching my face. Just moments after that, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Instantly, I was brought back to all those times…the hours upon hours for an entire year, where I nursed him to sleep every night.

Two minutes. The best gift my son could ever give me.