Arm tickles and hair rubs

I haven't had too much patience with Aiden recently.  Every day I wake up, pray for patience, and tell myself that today I will succeed.   But, pretty much every day, I fail at some point.  I tell myself that it's summer, it's hot, I'm pregnant and uncomfortable, and that sometimes he does things just to push my buttons.  But, these are all excuses.

I don't want to make excuses.  So, I'm really trying.

And sometimes, I am blessed with a sweet moment that helps (a little) to make up for my lack of patience.

Every time I put Aiden down to sleep, we always say prayers, and then he asks me to rub his arm ( I call these arm tickles), or his hair.  Since he has been a baby, I would rub his head to help soothe him to sleep.  And even now when he's exhausted and just wants to go to sleep in the car, or on my lap, I rub his arm or his hair to help him settle down.

Yesterday when I was putting him down for a nap, I really wanted to get him down quickly so I could do the things that I wanted to get done while he was napping.  He asked me to rub his arm, which I did for a couple of minutes.  When I said goodnight and gave him a kiss, he asked if I could rub his hair for a couple of minutes.  He was halfway asleep at this point and I knew I could say no and he wouldn't be upset, he would just roll over and go to sleep.  But, I didn't, I said yes and I rubbed his hair while he drifted slowly off to sleep.

I chose to do something so simple for a few minutes because I knew how much it meant to Aiden, and how loved he feels in those moments.  That's what being a mother is about.