Mama-Come-Lately

My first exposure to video calls came courtesy of the Jetsons, because I am that old. I recall thinking, in my little tween brain, “Gosh. You’d have to make sure you looked okay.” I didn’t much care for that thought. (Even at that age, I was a low-maintenance kind of gal.)

Little did I know that just a few decades later I’d be Skyping with my mother-in-law five days a week (the hubs handles weekends). (And yes, I do make sure my hair and face are passable before we begin, though some days I’m more passable than others.)

One day this week, she noticed that Baboo was playing with a couple of strainers. You know the type:

They’ve been among his favorite playthings for the better part of a year, but for some reason she’d never seen him carrying them around.

During the next day’s Skype session, following the standard discussion of the baby’s breakfast (calls are easier with the baby in a secure location), she held up a strainer. She described its size and how she uses it. Baboo grinned and chortled, clearly happy that his Avva knew the joy of strainers. She put the strainer down and picked up another, smaller one. Again, she told him all about it. Same reaction. She showed him a third strainer, again smaller than the last one.

By this time I was off-camera, dabbing my eyes in my T-shirt. It was the sweetness that got me. The pure joy of my mother-in-law’s strainer tour, the forethought that must have gone into it, the baby’s reaction, the connection.

Sometimes I love technology more than chocolate.