Some of my Favorite Two Minutes of the Day

Leon asked me a few days ago to start waking him up 15 minutes before everyone else. He is delightful to wake up. And, unlike most of our other sons when they arrived, he does not have an instant hatred for me. Some days I think he actually likes me.

I have other children who are NOT delightful to wake up. One cusses at me almost every morning, one argues, another groans as if I personally am responsible for another school day dawning. But Leon, who usually spends most of his waking hours complaining about something, as most 7th grade boys do, is wonderful in the morning.

Before he is completely awake I'm allowed to be affectionate. I can stroke his head, gaze into his almond eyes, kiss his forehead, stare at his full lips, think about how lucky I am, and say nice things to him and he just lies there and eventually smiles. He never says a word. He barely opens his eyes and then nods to let me know he's heard me.

Adopting a son when he is twelve is no easy feat for parents or the child. We miss out on SOOO much of who they are. How I would have loved to have rocked him as a baby, have held him in my arms when he was tiny, bonded to him in that way. But it is what it is and I have to find a new way.

And so in the quiet hours of morning, when it's still dark outside and he's snuggled warm in his bed, I spend two minutes a day connected to my soon-to-be teenage boy, grateful that he is finally mine.