Living on the edge

Anyone who knows me well knows I am too much of a stickler for rules. I have known this for over a decade, but some habits are hard to break. I believe in rules. I believe they are there for a reason. I believe they allow you more freedom when they are used properly.

I also believe that some rules are meant to be broken. Or, at least, almost-broken.

Now, I'll add a disclaimer here for any well-meaning relative who wants to feed Kevin a can of Pepsi or take her for a ride on the motorcycle while I am laid up with her brother this summer: some rules. Only some rules.

For example, Scott and I decided before we ever had kids that we would never let them sleep in our bed. (Note: I am not trying to bash co-sleeping here. We simply decided that for us, our bed was ours alone and that it would be easier to enforce that from the beginning of parenthood than a few years down the road when we would have multiple toddlers vying for cuddle space).

And now every time I hear the song "Let Them Be Little" I immediately feel guilty, because there is no "let them sleep in the middle" at our house.

We have reached a compromise though. It is called "let her cuddle in the middle for ten minutes while we watch Netflix at four a.m. because putting her back to bed repeatedly for the last hour hasn't allowed anyone to sleep, unborn baby brother included."

So in the early morning hours on this Thursday morning, I learned to appreciate that sometimes coming close to breaking the rules can allow you some really beautiful moments. Like our whole little family cuddled up together while the sky started to lighten up and the birds started to sing and Bobby Flay, once again, wasn't beaten. The three of us wedged together (apparently it isn't time to turn off our heater yet), Kevin resting her head on her dad's arm and holding my hand, while one of Scott's hands rested on my now-bulging-I-really-can't-pass-this-baby-off-as-chub-anymore stomach.

Then, as he tried to hold my hand and Kevin quickly put a stop to that by moving one of our hands away, we decided cuddle time was over (for her). And we put her back to bed (eventually. Because it turns out the reason she had been wide awake for hours was because she was hungry and needed some yogurt and a cookie).

As I lay in bed, trying to force myself back to sleep for a few more hours, I realized that while I do believe in keeping the rules, sometimes I also believe in coming close to breaking them.

Sometimes you need to let your husband skip class to take care of your family.

Sometimes you need to eat dessert despite being pregnant and diabetic.

Sometimes the laundry and bathrooms can wait another week.

Sometimes it is okay to get naked and go skinny dipping just for the sake of doing something adventurous.

Sometimes you just have to kiss that boy you were expressly told not to date before you return to your mission.

Sometimes toddlers need carbonation... But only in the form of root beer floats.