I'm lame, but this is my idea of quality time.

The Parents Bloggers Network wants to hear about how families play together. I got to thinking about it and realized I'm pretty lame and this might make me seem kinda lazy, but hey, here's what we do.

Around 4 or so in the afternoon, I tend to just get exhausted and exasperated, so I round up the wee ones and head into my room. I lay down and they play on my bed. They ride on my back and I'll shake back and forth usually pretending to be a car. The kids even yell, "Go go, Gadget car." No, they've never seen Inspector Gadget. I'm just a dork.

The other day, The Boy even sat on my back and yelled, "Go go!" The big kids love it. It's their chance to play, but they also see that their brother is learning from them. He yelled that because he heard them do it. They're also taking that time to teach him to jump, pretend he's a train and be all around obnoxious, but very cute while doing it. He adores his sisters and just loves the attention. They love the thought of having a potential partner in crime. I can just imagine what they must whisper to each other in the night, "Dude, we managed to destroy 80-year-old heirloom book cases, shove stuff up our noses and eat through DVD boxes when there were only two of us. Imagine the havoc we can wreak with three."

They also like it 'cause it's time with me. I don't even have to do anything other than talk to them, but they lap it up. They just love being on my bed (or in a train, or a space ship or whatever my bed is to them that day), bouncing around and chatting with me.

When they were tiny, my very favorite part of the day was the morning. Let me tell you, I'm a night person and I have insomnia, so you know mornings had to be extraordinary if they were my favorite. Back then, The Boy slept with us and when he woke up, I'd sign, "Milk," and he'd get super excited. I LOVED his huge grins with the chubby legs and arms flailing. So we'd call the big kids in while the baby nursed. They'd climb in bed with us. We didn't know an exact date, but we knew dh would be leaving before too long, so we really clung to that time. We never did anything other than hang out, but I loved it. It was the whole family together.

When dh deployed, our mornings became even more important to me. Even if I was utterly exhausted because I didn't get any freaking sleep, when I saw the kids cuddling together and heard them giggling, it made me feel a bit better. I'm not saying laughter is the equivalent of a Mocha Frappacino with an extra shot of espresso, but it helps.

The Boy moved out of our bed before his first birthday, though (his choice, not mine). So now the only time I get to cuddle with all the kids is in bed in the late afternoon.

I don't have to plan anything. I don't have to stock up on supplies. I don't have to do cartwheels to keep them entertained. We're all just there together and I like it that way.

Now the disclaimer:
This post is brought to you in conjunction with Parent Bloggers Network & EA’s Wii-Boogie, a family gaming experience. Shake it. Sing it. Create it.