By Cathy Taylor
When I heard my friends wanted to go on a 2nd Honeymoon to Hawaii, I willingly volunteered to watch their two little girls, aged 3 and 1. It had been 20 years since I had little toddlers underfoot so I thought, “How fun to have two cute girls to be entertained by!” When they arrived with all the gear, I had no more room in my dining room and bedroom. After being given all the instructions by the thrilled parents, the reality of what I had committed to do sobered me up quickly. My freedom to leave their presence was gone. My freedom to easily run errands was gone. My freedom to surf the web was gone. My ability to finish a cup of coffee in the morning was gone. My ability to read a magazine was gone. I was bound by love to these sweet little ones who needed every bit of my love, care, and undivided attention. The first night we were awakened all through the night by one-year-old Nellie, who was sporting a fever. Her Auntie Rosa willing agreed to watch her on Sunday morning so I could take Abby to church. My son, Jordan greeted us and the first thing out of his mouth was, “Mom, why did you dress her like that?”
“What do you mean, she has cute pants and a little striped sweater on!” I replied.
He went on saying, “Her mom always has a cute dress on her for church and her hair all fixed up!”
“Whatever,” I said as I walked away. “At least I got her here!” Good thing I only had one little girl to get ready this morning.
All week long I really tried to get all my homework done for my weekly Bible study. I found myself attempting to finish it late at night, but fell asleep before I could get it done. When I awoke, there was Nellie standing in her playpen, staring and smiling with her big toothy grin. Abby would come in at dawn saying, “Caphy, I’m awake! I am here Caphy! How did you sleep Caphy? I’m not tired at all! I slept good Caphy! Let’s play with play dough Caphy! You look tired Caphy!”
“Let me drink my coffee first, Abby. Then I can play with you.”
I never did get any coffee finished. I think I reheated it 20x in the microwave. You see, watching a 1 year-old is watching 24/7, every second of every minute of the waking day! There is no rest for the mothers of toddlers. I found that training a 3 year-old to obey is 24/7 job as well. Every time I wanted to put her down for a nap, take her to the bathroom, I was met with resistance. So, I decided to teach Abby to say, “Yes, Cathy,” when I asked her to do anything. At first she just softly mumbled the words. By the end of the week she would respond this way, much to my amazement! I adjusted my life to the intense rhythm of two little ones and I found such joy watching them play, eat, watch Snow White, take the magnets off my fridge for the 50th time. Both Abby and Nellie are such happy, content little girls.
At the end of week, I saw Abby pouring water from her little teapot all over my wood floor. I quickly said to her, “Oh, no! We can’t pour water all over the wood floor!”
She quickly explained to me, “You know, my daddy said before he left that I could pour water on the floor any time I wanted.” She paused for a while, and then continued, “Now say, y-e-s Abby!”
Without laughing out loud, I thoughtfully replied to her, “You know, I talked with your daddy on his way to the airport and he told me I could tell you not to pour water anytime I wanted to!” She looked at me quizzically, but agreed.
Sometimes I hear mothers being asked if they are working mothers or not. I hear them reply, “No, I am a stay at home mom.”
Not a working mom! Are you kidding?!
