Olympic snuggling

My kids love to snuggle. Like seriously love it.

Of course, this can be one of my favorite parts of parenting. I can think of few things that rival a sweet snuggle from one of my precious kids.

Notice I said one of my precious kids. The problem is that I have three precious kids.

When there was only one - or even two - we could sit on the couch and read books together, cuddling away the hours. Now "reading books" is just a euphemism for pushing, climbing, and clawing their way past each other and farther on top of mommy and closer to the book because they "can't see!!!!"

There is serious competition around here about who got more snuggles, snuggled longer, snuggled in a better spot. It never ends. I'm convinced my kids could turn this into an Olympic sport: "It's Joshua with an arm and a leg right now, but watch out, Ethan's making a move from the outside and going for the neck with Lauren not far behind pulling the sneaky climb-right-on-top-before-anyone-notices move . . ."

Last night topped all prior mommy snuggle competitions.

We took the kids sledding at around 8pm. If you're not familiar with this activity, it involves a really big hill and a lot of knee-deep snow. Going down the hill . . . fun. Going up the hill . . . less fun. Going up the hill while pulling a 40 lb. child on your sled . . . so not fun. I can often pretend that I'm in good shape, but last night proved otherwise.

So when we came home and the time came to put the kids to bed, I began going up the stairs. About halfway up, I found myself dreaming of the landing at the top like one longs for an oasis in the desert. I got there and collapsed on the floor. With every muscle in my legs and buttocks aching, I decided just to stay there for a few minutes.

That's when Ethan came up, and seeing me there, decided it would be the perfect time for a snuggle. He laid down on the floor next to me and snuggled up close. Joshua came up the stairs a few moments later and said, I kid you not, "Mommy, when you're done snuggling Ethan, you have to snuggle me next!"

Um, kid, I'm not down here to snuggle; I'm just dying, that's all. Apparently, he found it grossly unjust that I had never laid on the floor at the top of the stairs with him.

If my kids ever find me lying unconscious in a ditch, I do not believe they will call 911. They will just argue over who gets to snuggle first.

"No fair, Ethan got to give you CPR last time!!"