Loving Being A Mom

"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be "

I was sitting in the rocking chair in our little front room, slowly rocking Holly to sleep while I read to Linnea and Big Holly (the little girl I babysat), hoping to settle them down for naps.  The girls loved the book by Robert Munsch, Love You Forever, and so did I. 

Holly's eyes were drooping, and Big Holly and Linnea were both nestled up against my knee, looking kind of sleepy too, so I picked up my Child's Garden of Verse and began reading poems to them.  Maybe they would all fall asleep.

It was a typical day at our house.  I'd got up at 7:00 to be ready when my friend Betty dropped Holly off on her way to work.  Linnea woke up as soon as she heard the doorbell, so I helped both little girls get dress.  Big Holly was six months older than Linnea, who was almost two. They could pull on their own shirts and pants, but I had to help them button and zip.  I also changed Linnea's diaper, although I was thinking about potty training her as soon as the weather got hot.  Mom always said she waited to potty train until we could run around in just panties, so if we had an accident she knew it right away and didn't have to worry about wet pants in the winter.

Baby Holly woke up while the big girls got dressed, so next I changed her diaper, then made her a bottle and got some breakfast for the rest of us.  Sheldon was out of the shower and ready to eat by then.  Baby Holly was almost 6 months old, and she loved sitting in the highchair, pretending to eat like the rest of us.  

Sheldon left as soon as breakfast was over, and then it was time to wash off the girls, turn on Sesame Street, and try to do the dishes while it entertained the kids.  We didn't have a dishwasher, but as long as I kept up with the dishes the kitchen stayed pretty clean.  The biggest job was wiping off the walls and cleaning up the floor next to Holly's highchair.  That was always a mess.

If I could get the kitchen clean while the girls watched TV the rest of the day would go pretty smooth.  Sometimes I'd have a lesson for church to work on, but usually I tried to get to my Tupperware orders first.  My mother-in-law sold Tupperware, and she paid me to keep her inventory, send in orders, and seperate the merchandize and put it into individual bags ready to be delivered.  Sesame Street didn't usually last long enough to get everything done, but sometimes the girls would be interested in Mr. Rogers or The Electric Company.  Usually, though, they were ready to play, or quarrel, or get into trouble, and the morning was spent changing diapers, cleaning messes, refereeing arguments, and trying to think of ways to keep them out of trouble.

They were such cute kids!  All three little girls had dark hair, and baby Holly's was curly.  She had twinkling eyes and a smile that lit up her whole face, creating two of the cutest dimples you ever saw! Linnea was an adorable toddler, and so smart!  She could already count to ten in English and Swedish, and the more she watched Sesame Street the closer she was to being able to count in Spanish, too.  Big Holly was a good friend for Linnea, and they loved to play together.  It was really nice for me to have her spend the days with us, since they entertained each other and gave me more time to myself.

But they sure could find ways to get into trouble.  If it got quiet I'd call, "Girls, what are you up to?" and they'd answer, "Nothing," and scamper out of the bathroom or the bedroom as quick as they could. Usually that meant I'd find toothpaste smeared in the bathtub or all my earrings in a pile on the floor in front of my dresser later on.  But they were so cute! 

When lunch was over we settled down for naps, which meant reading aloud from their favorite books.  Big Holly's favorite was Make Way For Ducklings,  Linnea's was Ping, and mine was I'll Love You Forever.  But the one that I read the most, and that always succeeded in putting the girls to sleep, was A Child's Garden of Verse.  How many poems I read depended on how tired they were, but they'd be asleep long before I read all of them.  Then I had a little time to finish the Tupperware, work on my lesson, or even sew or bake or paint if I was lucky.

After naps the girls would play outside while I did the laundry or gardened, and then Betty would come pick up Big Holly and it would be time to make supper and get ready for Sheldon to come home.  A pretty boring day, for sure, but that's what life is made of.  One day after another, year after year, while my children grew up and I grew old, leaving behind faint memories of sitting in a rocking chair, reading to and loving my babies.