Sometimes, after a long, tiring and stressful day I would like to have a glass of wine. I’m not much of a wine drinker, but I think about it. Thursday was one of those days. It was a long day with a lot thrown in, and it was well after 9:00 pm when I finally settled down at home. But I didn’t have a glass of wine. I put my kids to bed, and as I cuddled 15-month-old Nessa to sleep, the song Kisses Sweeter than Wine came into my head.
Kisses Sweeter than Wine is a love song, written by the folk music group, the Weavers, in 1950. The singer describes meeting the love his life, how he kissed her, married her, they had children and grandchildren. But I wasn’t thinking about the lyrics of that song last night. Instead I was thinking about the song title and how true it is: kisses can be sweeter than wine.
The kisses I am referring to are the bedtime kisses I give to and receive from my children every night. Bedtime is hectic in my house. Some nights it’s a downright mad house. Matthew can’t bear to miss even a minute of any Blue Jays’ game, Julia won’t be in her bedroom alone, and if the big kids are up then Nessa sees night time as an opportunity to entertain everyone.
But when they finally settle down, the lights go out and everything is quiet I can relax. I cuddle up with Nessa in her glider chair in her bedroom, I put on classical music like the Brandenburg Concerto on the iPad and she drifts off to sleep. I can’t help myself, and I have to kiss her forehead and cheeks. Those are kisses sweeter than wine.
I kiss each one of my kids good night when they go to bed, and if I miss bedtime for any number of reasons, then I make sure that before I go to bed I kiss them all. I would turn down a good glass of wine any day just to receive some sweet wet kisses from my children.
Last night I particularly enjoyed my bedtime cuddle with Nessa, who quickly fell asleep in my arms. I put her in her crib and walked over to Julia to say goodnight to her. Julia was in that state between wakefulness and sleep. She held out her arms to me. I bent down to hug her and she planted a big wet kiss on my cheek. It made my day. I promise you, kisses are sweeter than wine.