Responsibility

I had made numerous trips back to the kids' bedside doling out kisses, fetching toys and declaring my love. I was exhausted and sick and wanted to get in bed. I left milk for Selah and Judah by the bed, squeezed them and went to my room.

I had just settled in, finding the perfect angle that let me breathe a little better, when Selah called out.

"Mom, I need my milk!"

"It's right there on the table," I answered. "You can get it."

"No, I can't!" she cried. "I don't want to get out of bed."

"Well, neither do I!" I shot back.

There was a pause. And then the sweet, determined voice of my precious four-year-old princess.

"But, you're the big parent," she said. "You have to, don't you?"