Little Royals...

Let me tell you a little story.

When my brother and I were young, we were "Grandkid Royalty". Let me explain. My Grandma and Grandpa were well past the newness of having grand babies by the time we came along. They're youngest, my Dad, was... well, how you do you put this nicely, a happy accident? Yep, an accident by quite a ways. One of those "caboose babies" if you will. So Gram and Gramps' other grand kids were definitely kids. Not babies. Not toddlers. And we were the "oh so cute little ones". And let me tell you, it was awesome.

Every Wednesday my Grandma and Grandpa would "drive over the mountain" to come see us. Every Wednesday. My Mom would dress us up in nice duds and they would take us to lunch and order us fish and chips and clam chowder and we'd sit quietly and cutely and eat and wave at their peers while they gossiped with the other regulars at the salad bar. They loved it. And we loved it. And believe me, we got it. We weren't going to do a thing to screw up the status quo. We were kind of famous there, because, well, with royalty comes fame.

Just ask Kate Middleton. :)

After lunch, every Wednesday, they would take us to Kings so we could pick out one new toy each. And I never remember my Grandma checking the price or telling me to choose something else. If I wanted a dinosaur she'd take my dino to the register and make it happen. If I wanted Pom-Poms - she was all over it. I swear, one time, my brother asked for a pocket knife and she didn't even flinch. That is the sweet life.

And the whole reason I bring this up is because today, I bought window crayons and punch balloons for the babies at the store for no apparent reason. Maybe because it was Wednesday and subconsciously I was reverting back to my days with Gram and Gramps. And then I scolded myself and thought, "Duh, they don't need these, I'll save them for Easter." But then I stopped. What am I waiting for? I mean, in all actuality, though it seems a little melodramatic, we could be hit with an eight-point magnitude earthquake tomorrow and our entire existence would change.

So here's what we did. We lived it up with our crayons and punch balls today. Because seriously, I don't care how you do the math; life is precious. And you never know how much time you'll get to spend with the little men and women of your life. So I'm gonna show mine how much I love them and make them feel like royalty, because every single kid needs to feel like that sometimes just because. And I'm pretty sure Royal babies would prefer a punch ball over a silver rattle.... just sayin'.

So, to my little Prince's... brace yourselves because mama is gettin' all existential on you for a minute. You are my royal family. I would do anything for you any day of the week (not just Wednesday) and I love you EVERY day of the week. And you know what? If I lose sight of that in the future sometimes, just remind me of your Great Grandma and Grandpa A. I'll snap to it. Promise. We're gonna live it up & enjoy the sweet life together... today and every other day. Because we can. :)