Writing, like any other craft, requires practice to maintain or improve one’s skill level. This, in turn, is one of the main motivators for my blog. Another intense motivation is to chronicle my journey as a mother and my infant son’s journey as he grows. While I understand I am not the first to have such an experience nor to attempt such a feat, my experiences and how I deal with them and learn from them are indeed unique to me… and my son.
This has been an interesting week. My father flew to Florida not simply to visit a few days, after all it IS really nice weather in FL this time of year, and my folks do live in the much cooler Midwest (Southern Illinois). His trip was a fairly decent sacrifice for him and my mom. He flew to FL so that he could help drive Levi and me and our two dogs to IL while my husband is overseas. For my dad this is a sacrifice because it’s about a 15-hour drive across 5 states. This is a sacrifice for my mom to have Dad away because now Mom is tasked with tending to Gramma. the chickens, dogs, and especially the wood-burning furnace without Dad’s help. So, this trip is kinda a big deal for everyone. Meanwhile, our house sits empty in Florida with only the watchful eyes of our neighbors to take care of it. What a blessing to have such good neighbors!!
We are now about half-way through our drive from Florida to Illinois, and while Dad is driving and the baby is sleeping, I’m left with plenty opportunity for my thoughts to wander.
I took advantage of having Grampa around to look after Levi so I could take care of trying to get my baby sling business up and running (still working on that doggone website!). After a day or so, I noticed that Levi was really taking to his Grampa, which I’m sure my dad found to be particularly rewarding. It got me to thinking about how this all turned out. Dad was initially going to be at my house for only 2 days. But because I had a few opportunities present themselves regarding the sling business, he ended up staying an extra day. He and Levi had some special bonding time that I don’t think they would have had once in Illinois. You see, once in IL at Mom and Dad’s house, besides being busy with his usual chores, Dad would have to compete with Mom for Levi-time! So I think it’s pretty cool that they got to spend a few days together.
On the baby sling front, I get better as I go. I was able to put together 7 slings yesterday… yes, 7! Once I get going, the most time-consuming part is changing the thread in the machine! It’s good that it doesn’t take me very long to make them since Levi, now crawling and pulling himself to stand against just about anything, requires constant supervision. But, yes, there’s always a “but” It was brought to my attention this morning as I watched Levi pull himself up against the couch and stand there so very proud of himself for what he had accomplished. I commented to my dad about what I’d just seen Levi do. Dad informed me that Levi had been doing that all day yesterday. I was so sad as I realized I’d been so busy packing and sewing that I had spent very little time with my son that day.
Dad said to me, “Don’t blink!”
It brought tears to my eyes as I’m reminded every day just how quickly time passes and how fast our babies grow and eventually grow up. But as was emphasized by the sacrifices that my parents are making for me as I write, we are always their children… they are always our parents, no matter our age or theirs. We will continue to give to and make sacrifices for our children as long as we are able. For our heart, once it bursts into parenthood, will never be the same as it once was… and who would want it to?!
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the blessing of such amazing parents you’ve given me and how much they taught me about parenting. And I thank You also for the opportunity of parenthood and such a wonderfully amazing little boy who teaches me something new every day!
Written: 2009_12_17, 1943hrs
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