Throughout this year, we at Coldwell Banker have been sharing photos and videos that visually represent some of the awesome moments that can only happen at home. As social creatures and with the ease of technology to help us share, it has become inherent for us to broadcast these moments to our friends, families and even strangers. However what I’ve come to realize is there are some moments of awesomeness at home that just can’t be captured. They reside in our hearts and minds. Even though they can’t be shared, liked or retweeted, sometimes that’s what makes them so special.

For me, one of these moments is actually a nightly occurrence. As a father of four boys, I’m well versed in the bedtime rituals. In the last 12 years, I’ve conducted more tuck-ins than most people experience in a lifetime. My youngest son, who is currently three and a half, is the baby of the bunch and I realize he’s the last one that I will be able to tuck in to bed. The older boys (5, 8 & 12) are already moving past the specialness of bedtime stories and kisses goodnight. Instead they’ve been replaced with a sundry assortment of delay tactics and thinly veiled attempts at trying to stay up later. Every once in a while, they will want mom or dad to show them some love before bed, but those moments are few and far between. But the three and a half year old is still in that phase.

Sure he often lets out a complaining cry or defiant frown when we declare “it’s bedtime” but it lasts for all of 5 seconds and then he marches up the stairs to his room to get changed for bed. Once the jammies are on I pick him up and put him in bed. Between the time I pick him up and tuck him in is where the most awesome of moments happen at home. For some reason, even from our first child, I’ve had this habit of patting my boys backs when I hold them. Just a few “love pats” that are now ingrained in my muscle memory that I don’t even realize I’m doing it. But when I pick up my youngest and start to pat him on the back, he instinctively rests his head on my shoulder and starts to pat my back as well.

Those few, small pats from his tiny hands on my back get me every time. I stand in his room under the glow of a night light and it warms my heart on a nightly basis. I’ll squeeze him before I set him in bed, and there’s a tiny squeeze back.

A photo or video couldn’t convey just how awesome these fleeting seconds are. When we are visiting family or away on vacation, the bedtime ritual often varies. There’s too much activity and hoopla with getting kids to bed in a different place that bedtime just isn’t the same. That’s why home is the only place where this can happen.

While it took me a few hundred words to share my moment of awesomeness, I would love to hear yours either in the comments or share it with others using the hashtag #HomeIsAwesomeness.