One of those moments

The other night Kari was out (either volunteering her time towards some philanthropic cause or drinking wine with friends under the guise of a book club, I can't remember which) so I was doing the bedtime routine with the boys. We heard a beeping sound coming from downstairs and, after some speculation about what it was; open fridge door, dishwasher finished, smoke alarm, etc., we all agreed that I'd go down and check it out. 

The beeping sound turned out to be the dishwasher signaling that it was finished with the dishes. In an impulsive attempt to chip in around the house, and since I was already there, I decided to just take five minutes and put the dishes away. 

This might not seem like a big decision but the minutes leading up bedtime can be a tenuous and problematic period. At best I expected that the boys would have made no progress at all while I was downstairs. And it wouldn't have been a bit surprising to find that they'd undid any progress we had made thus far while also making a huge mess or getting into a fight or some other minor household disaster. 

So, as I walked up the stairs after putting away the dishes, I was bracing myself for the potential consequences. I expected tears and/or yelling and probably some toys or cloths strewn about the floor. But that's not at all what I found. I came upstairs to find that they'd both gotten themselves ready for the night and were sitting in bed together with LT reading a book to Adler.

I just smiled, sat down on the end of the bed, and watched them read together.