A lick.

We are at breaking point.
Or at least close to it; Talia + midterms = no bueno.

On the way to class today, I thought, "But 'motherhood is so rewarding!'" Echoing the throngs of people that have said that over the years. I never knew what they were referring to exactly; there are few vaguer phrases.
So I came up with a more concrete image:

Imagine yourself on a very long bus ride in July. It is sweltering, the bus stinks, and you are not sure how the driver passed the driving test. Just when you are sure you have whiplash and are about to suffocate... there are still three more stops. Finally, the bus stops and you take two steps and enter a clean, cool ice cream shop. That feeling you get when you take the first lick of a chocolate-covered-orange-creme-swirl cone?

That's what it's like when Talia laughs.
Only about a thousand times better.