Say it again, Mommy

Tonight I realized that I needed to spend some quality time with my son. Isaiah and Melora have been going to vacation Bible school every morning for the past five days, and they have had a blast. They have come home happy and exhausted, singing songs about David and Goliath and showing off their awesome crafts. But they have also been showing some strain from being away from home every day, which they aren't used to. Melora is really good at letting us know when she is beyond her limits. In fact, she's almost too good. It only takes one missed nap or a day's worth of being overlooked at home for Melora to break down and demand our attention in any form and by any means necessary. It's often frustrating in the moment to have so many tantrums over tiny issues, but I am truly glad my middle child isn't willing to let herself be overlooked. That's a gift from God when you are the in-betweener.

Isaiah, on the other hand, does not really let me know when he is being neglected or ignored. He trudges on and goes with the flow even when I have been giving 90% of my attention to his sisters. So it finally dawned on me tonight that since Melora has been demanding my snuggles and attention and reassurance, Isaiah probably wants it too, but he's just too darn polite to ask for it. So after I got the little girls to bed, I whispered to Isaiah that we were going to stay up late and play with Lincoln Logs.

We built a pretty awesome Fort Apache, if I do say so myself, and giggled together as Isaiah got sillier and sillier. Finally, when he was no longer doing anything but knocking down towers and collapsing in paroxysms of laughter at my pretend-angry came, we climbed into his bed and prayed together and then snuggled for a while. Finally, I kissed his forehead and told him goodnight. Then I said,
"Isaiah, I love you. And I will love you every day that you live."
He was quiet, and I got up to turn out the light and leave. Then, before I closed the door he said,
"Mommy? Will you say that again tomorrow?"