Office Invasions

"Mum!  Mum!  Look!"  Anya is holding up her toes, splayed open. "I'm bleeding!"  I take a closer look. "Don't touch it!!!" she squeals.  I touch anyway, and tell her "Honey, it was a piece of fuzz from your pink sock."  "Oh," she says in her own delightful way, drawing a two-letter word out into at least three syllables.  She skips away happily.

Samuel asks "Can I have lorna doone cookies for a bedtime snack?"  No, I tell him, those are only for after dinner and he already had an ice cream sandwich for dessert tonight.  He looks disappointed, then gets a twinkle in his eye and tells me "Well, it's still after dinner."  I laugh out loud, tell him "nice try," and send him on his way to think of another snack.

Another time, Sam comes in after summer program and looks worried.  He tells me "I lost your flashlight.  I'm really sorry."  I tell him that it's okay, when I lent it to him for his field trip, I knew that might happen.  We'll get me another one later.  I hug him.

Anya, without asking, climbs onto my lap and buries her face in my shirt, inhaling deeply.  She cooes and sighs, lingering there, and is content when she gets off my lap.  Nothing soothes her like my smell, even at 6 years old.

From the kids' arrival in mid afternoon forward, my work is full of such interruptions.  Sometimes it's frustrating, especially when they repeatedly break my concentration.  But, in the end, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love these children. 

(okay, it's not a pic from the office, but how could I resist? )

What are your favorite work interruptions?