Mornings like that do NOT suck.

This morning I was checking e-mail on my way out the door to work, and Bryce shuffled in, his soft cowlicks sticking out all over his head, clutching his blanket to his chest. He tentatively approached; out of the corner of my eye, I could see him at my elbow silently seeking permission to interrupt my seemingly important grown-up activity.

Like his mother, sometimes Bryce can be a tad...unpredictable in the morning. I've learned to let him start the dialogue; it just works better that way, and besides, the kid loves to talk, in case I haven't adequately conveyed that. It's not like we go more than two minutes without a conversation starting, despite the fact that I never start it. Sometimes the conversations are tense, because Bryce often wakes up too early and this occasionally results in an unexplainable and apparently inexpressable foul mood. This means that rather than, oh, I don't know...GOING BACK TO BED like a normal person, he feels the need to follow me around and groan like a sick animal. I'm not so much into that. This means that I respond with a complete lack of sympathy, and he is understandably insulted, which leads to more groaning. Mornings like that really SUCK.

But there are different kinds of mornings, too - mornings like the one we had today. As he stood next to me while I scanned my inbox, I waited with baited breath, pretending not to notice him. Was it going to be a groany day? Were we all going to have to walk on eggshells or constantly threaten "time outs" to keep the peace? He kept standing there. Tap tap tap, I started typing a response. Then he spoke up: "Mom, I just wanted to give you a hug and a kiss." And then he did.

Oh, okay. I guess that's cool with me. I guess I can do without the yelling and tantrums this morning. I mean, I'll miss them, and I'll expect them back tomorrow, but for today, a hug and a kiss are fine, I suppose.