Front Porch Swing

Sometimes when Sienna takes a long afternoon nap, I join Kiran outside on the front porch swing for her daily popsicle. I take my current novel out even though I know I'll be interrupted every other sentence. I refrain from asking her not to drip her popsicle on her dress because she's two. And if she can't drip a little popsicle on her dress when she's two then I'm not the kind of mother I want to be.

She's wearing the bright blue dress today. She tells me everyday that the flowered dress is her favorite but personally I think this is the best one. There is something in the bright blue that makes her look incredibly tan. And the tan skin sets off the 34 different shades of blond in her hair. Hair that is a little bit wet and matted from the nap she actually took today.

She asks me what I see and we talk about the mosquito, Mommy's book and the trees. I don't tell her that I see the stubbornness of her mother and the inquisitiveness of her father and the protectiveness of being a big sister peeking out from her bright blue dress. Then she's ready to go inside, to get her milk and her string cheese. To grow up and be three and learn to pour her own milk and read her own novels. We play tug-of-war; Kiran sprinting ahead to the future she eagerly embraces and me digging my heels in making this time last as long as it possibly can. Maybe Sienna will take a long nap again tomorrow...