I heard the story, the other day, that a Facebook friend knew a man whose
wife was having a baby very soon. She wanted to hire a "Night Sitter"
so that they could sleep through the night while the "night sitter" got
up and took care of the baby. She was stunned. So were a lot of us to
hear this. It wasn't that the mom was working and needed the help. She
was planning on staying home with the baby. Of course, dad would
continue to work. Nevertheless, how many of our husbands would get up
and help us with our babies at night? The couple had family in town who
was willing and able to help. The mother to be simply wanted one
because many of her friends either had one or had had one when their
babies were born. The man was complaining because the cost of such a
sitter was $1000 per week! (If only I had earned that much as a teacher
to take care of other people's children day after day after day!)
Then I looked at the rocking chair. It's almost 35 years old. We bought it right before Jenny was born. We shined it up and put it in the living room. Jenny was a good baby, but she managed to get her days and nights mixed up. She was so sweet and mellow at night, you couldn't help but enjoy her. Nick on the other hand was all boy from the day he was born. He would sleep for 20 minutes at a time, wake up to be fed and stay awake for 2 hours! That was his schedule. He was just a happy, bouncing baby boy.
I don't remember the number of hours I spent in this chair with my babies. We'd be awake when everyone else in the neighborhood was asleep. The soft glow of the night light in the living room, lit my way to the chair with the baby. We'd rock and talk. We'd rock and play. We'd rock and look at the world around us. We discovered our hands. We held fingers. We'd smile at each other. Hours upon hours were spent in that chair.
When the kids grew a bit older and they'd get sick, we'd often find ourselves together in the rocking chair even during the dark hours of the night. I'd rub aching tummies and sooth feverish brows with a cool wash cloth. We'd take temperatures. We'd drink the normally forbidden glass of pop that did help to sooth the aching tummies. We'd count chicken pox blisters. Once in a while, we'd even turn on the TV softly and watch until we went to sleep.
There was no night sitter and no family close enough to help. We did this, and it was very hard at times, especially when I was exhausted or sick, too! The reality is that, in spite of the difficulties of being awake when you didn't want to be awake, I would never trade this special time with my children. This is time that can never be replaced or lived again. I feel blessed to have had this time. I thank God for it!
My children are grown now. There is no more cuddle time in the rocking chair. When their children are born, I am hoping that one of them will take it to their home to rock and care for their children. We'll see. Maybe they will have a special chair of their own. However, no one or event can take that time from me!
I was blessed!
Then I looked at the rocking chair. It's almost 35 years old. We bought it right before Jenny was born. We shined it up and put it in the living room. Jenny was a good baby, but she managed to get her days and nights mixed up. She was so sweet and mellow at night, you couldn't help but enjoy her. Nick on the other hand was all boy from the day he was born. He would sleep for 20 minutes at a time, wake up to be fed and stay awake for 2 hours! That was his schedule. He was just a happy, bouncing baby boy.
I don't remember the number of hours I spent in this chair with my babies. We'd be awake when everyone else in the neighborhood was asleep. The soft glow of the night light in the living room, lit my way to the chair with the baby. We'd rock and talk. We'd rock and play. We'd rock and look at the world around us. We discovered our hands. We held fingers. We'd smile at each other. Hours upon hours were spent in that chair.
When the kids grew a bit older and they'd get sick, we'd often find ourselves together in the rocking chair even during the dark hours of the night. I'd rub aching tummies and sooth feverish brows with a cool wash cloth. We'd take temperatures. We'd drink the normally forbidden glass of pop that did help to sooth the aching tummies. We'd count chicken pox blisters. Once in a while, we'd even turn on the TV softly and watch until we went to sleep.
There was no night sitter and no family close enough to help. We did this, and it was very hard at times, especially when I was exhausted or sick, too! The reality is that, in spite of the difficulties of being awake when you didn't want to be awake, I would never trade this special time with my children. This is time that can never be replaced or lived again. I feel blessed to have had this time. I thank God for it!
My children are grown now. There is no more cuddle time in the rocking chair. When their children are born, I am hoping that one of them will take it to their home to rock and care for their children. We'll see. Maybe they will have a special chair of their own. However, no one or event can take that time from me!
I was blessed!
2 comments:
Such a sweet story! Thanks!
Thank you for reading. I was hoping to pass the chair down to my children as they had children, but so far, no grandbabies! I can only hope!
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