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Grateful

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Yesterday I took the baby to my old office to meet my former colleagues, and someone asked, “How are you liking being at home?” My answer to this has always been, “I like it better than I thought I would.” Which is true. But here is what I often don’t say, because a) I will probably start crying and b) I may or may not have a tissue in my pocket and c) everyone knows crying is contagious and it’s possible that the ladies are not wearing waterproof mascara.

I am deeply grateful that we are able to have me stay home with our son. I know how lucky we are. I don’t take it for granted. And sometimes, usually during the first feeding of the day, when the world is still and the baby hasn’t yet started squirming off my lap, I take a deep whiff of babyness and weep with gratitude.

And now you’re thinking, “what’s up with that photo up there?” That’s a sand mandala that a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks spent days making here in St. Louis last year. I tried like hell to get there to see them making it, but was only able to see the destruction ceremony. The monk in this photo is about to sweep away days of work; hundreds of hours of crouching and precisely pouring sand. They do this with every mandala they make, because everything changes. Everything goes away.

And that knowledge is what keeps me grateful for every little moment I get with my son.

Except for maybe the poopy diaper moments.

Happy weekend, everyone.

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Mama Needs a Treat

This morning, we took the baby in for his booster flu shot. (For the record, I am totally down with immunizations. It's just the immediate reaction of shock and pain I'm not okay with.)

If you're a parent, you know how it goes. You place your precious child on the table, flat on their back. You expose the baby's tender thigh, the nurse swabs the injection site with alcohol, lets it dry a bit, and then asks you to hold the baby's hands. (That part really threw me the first time — I hadn't thought about the need to restrain my child still as the nurse jabbed him with massive needles.)

And then, inevitably, the needle goes in. The baby's eyes widen. There are perhaps two seconds of total silence before the color rises into his cheeks and the screaming begins. Usually, there are multiple shots. So the crying just comes in waves and you feel like the world's biggest jerk until you get the all-clear from the nurse and you pick him up and desperately start babbling all the soothing sounds you can think of.

By the way, I'm using “him” because my baby is a boy.

There are two keys to making the experience something like bearable.

One: Figure out what will get the baby to stop crying. I tried nursing him once. Not interested. Sang to him, which he usually loves. No effect whatsoever. And then his dad jangled a jingle toy about three inches in front of his face. Bingo!

Two: Make sure you have a nice treat for yourself at home. And this is why I had a nice piece of cake at about 10 a.m.

 

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