All four kids slept in our bedroom last night, beginning with Lily and Liam on the sleeper sofa next to our bed. I've been sensing their loneliness, since we gave each of our children their own room after the new year (displacing us to the family room). Lily, Liam, and Benjamin were all co-sleepers as babies, Ben still coming in half-way through each night these days. Sethy does as well, though I chose to have him sleep in a crib early-on due to my own need for space.

Many people would frown on this style of parenting but, for me, I'm just trying to enjoy my children's need for night-time parenting, while it lasts. In a year or two, Lily will probably be spending a lot more time segregating herself from the rest of the brood, with normal adolescence bringing less patience for the oddities of family members. The boys will follow suit, shortly thereafter- and Tom and I will wish we could get more moments with them.

So for now, we're taking comfort in these hours that we're all together, hoping to somehow capture time and make it go by and little slower....or at least enjoy it a bit more than we might have otherwise.