Mama Tea

It's amazing the difference a little teapot and two little cups can make. Sometimes it's hard to find ways to really "connect" with my boys. I am usually running one or the other of them to some sort of therapy appointment or breaking up a fight or trying to talk above the noise. Sometimes I send them outside to play...against their will...tempted to lock the door behind them :) But those are all things I do for them or, uh, to them but there weren't very many moments I spent WITH them. I was in the same room, house, car, insane asylum, but not with them on their level listening to their amazing thoughts and dreams. A friend gave me a sweet little Numi teapot for my birthday last year and on a whim I decided to have tea with my eldest son when he was having a hard time. I was just tired of facing the struggle head on, I thought tea would soften the mood. I was not prepared for the positive response I received from him. He relaxed and talked and listened and laughed. And it only lasted 10 minutes. We just talked until the tea was gone. I tried this the next day with the middle son and the day after that with the youngest. Now all three seek out Mama Tea time. Of course I find my eyeballs floating on those days when all three need Mama time. I tend to stop drinking when my youngest son reaches in the pot to press out all the extra liquid from the teabag (where have those hands been?!). Perhaps I'd like something other than Chamomile or Tension Tamer, but the look on their faces when the time is done and their delight when I tell them "thank you for having tea with me"...priceless!!!