Stay Up.

Midlifers, I have to tell you something.

I stayed up.

After my workout and my shower and when I was ready for bed, I stayed up.

One older teen was restless after work and the other wasn’t home from a late practice, so I stayed up.

I made popcorn (and a nightcap) and I stayed up.

I stayed up because Work Teen and Practice Teen did not need to meet this particular night - stressed out, hungry and exhausted - in an unsupervised kitchen while I slept.

I am a Midlife parent which means I can see the storm clouds gathering, so I stayed up.

I stayed up so I could empathize with Practice who had consulted her calendar and informed me in near tears that she won’t be sleeping for four months due to the demands of the upcoming semester.

I stayed up because Practice needs practice practicing rest.

I stayed up so I could listen to Work decompress, and because most desperately-want-to-be-independent Baby Adults share more freely when Mom sits down with snacks that fill up her mouth so that she is less likely to interrupt with Mom questions.

I stayed up because Work needs to work on how to turn off work.

I stayed up.

I stayed up because - even though we’re far past wanting Mom to soothe away bad dreams, and even though curfews aren’t really an issue at this stage either - I knew my older teen and Baby Adult people needed connection.

The same connection we shared when they wore footed pajamas and we read on repeat “The Bear Snores On”.

The same connection we shared when they were a little older and delighted in completing chore charts because stickers!

The same connection we enjoyed when they were older still and we’d grab after school smoothies and gab.

I stayed up because presence matters.

My often overworked and sometimes underappreciated Midlifers, pop some popcorn and prop open your eyeballs, because the bodies around us sometimes need more from us than leaving a light on and setting out snacks.

Sometimes, they need us to stay up.