My ongoing date with Puzo/bedtime rituals...

For the past 2 weeks or more, I've been bringing Mario Puzo's novel 'Omerta' to bed with me but I haven't gotten past the prologue! I get sidetracked by storybooks of another kind that's why... :D Last night it was "Hey Hippopotamus-Do Babies eat cake too?" & "Toffee in Trouble." The night before, it was also a book from the hippo series-"There's a hippopotamus on our roof" that I "just had" to read! Apologies Puzo, back to the nightstand for you! Everything takes a backseat when it comes to conceding to Princess Iman's bedtime 'demands.' First it's the bedtime stories, usually it's books that she brings home from the library nowadays-(she's waaaay past 'the princess & the frog' kind of fairytales!) then it's the lullabies. Usually there's small bedtime talk in between. Yesterday, she wanted to know who did I think she resembled the most. She was extremely thrilled to find out that not only did she bear resemblance to mom & dad but she also had something from each of her older brothers in her appearance. So off to bed went one happy 7 year old that night! Sometimes all she needs is one lullaby before she heads off to noddyland. Pretty hard to resist when she tells me so sweeetly that the only thing that will put her to sleep is the sound of my voice! Even if I probably croak worse than a frog at times...

But in all truthfulness, I thoroughly enjoy these 'moments before sleep' that I spend with her, as I did with my two older boys. I remember to this day the lullabies that my own mom used to sing to put me to sleep. ( TOPM, I guess you remember that too) And how I would hold on to her hand until sleep inevitably took over. I can recall missing those times the most when circumstances took over and my mom was not there.. And to this day, would you believe it - sometimes I can still feel that physical ache in my heart when I relive those moments. Ahh, not to dwell but that's one of the reasons why I guess I'm one very indulgent mom when it comes to the wants & needs (physical & emotional) of my own children. I guess it's true what they say, that there's no love like a mother's love. I know it's not mother's day or anything, but since I'm on the subject, here's a lovely poem by Helen Steiner Rice that describes a mother's love so eloquently. Enjoy.


A Mother's love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.



So, Puzo has just got to wait-I'll find out soon enough who Don Zeno appoints as the guardian of his 2 year old son as he lays dying. Will it be Raymonde April from Sicily & New York, or Octavius Bianco from Palermo or Benito Craxxi from Chicago?? Maybe tonight?