Guest Post: Days 9 - 11
August 22 – 24
My time alone with the girls has come to an end. As I write
this, it is 2:30pm on Saturday, and in a few hours I’ll pack the girls into the
car and we’ll head to the airport to pick up Mommy. Greta was up at 7am on the
dot this morning, and Lucia was up soon after. I came down with Greta and gave
her a bottle of milk and we sat on the couch together in the quiet. Lucia soon
joined us and we went into the kitchen to have breakfast and start our day. Underneath
it all, there was a slight rhythm, a faint sense of routine, as I thought ahead
to morning snacks at the playground and wondered how cool it was out and if we
would need long pants when we changed out of our PJs.
As I put the girls to sleep alone last night for the last
time this week (Larry and Marge left Friday morning to drive back home, 2
laughing, well-fed girls in their wake), I felt a twinge of sadness that this period, however short, was over.
We, of course, all of us, can’t wait for Margo to get home. Greta, in fact,
seems to have gone on a hunger strike until she returns, and I was especially lonely last
night as I turned off the ballgame and switched off the lights and headed
upstairs in a quiet house. But this “full immersion” period with Lucia and
Greta has brought unexpected joy.
There are of course moments that I would rather not relive:
Greta throwing her Lamby into the bathtub full of water right before we went to
bed, Lucia wrenching yet another toy out of Greta’s poor hands. But these
moments were few and far between.
What I will remember more than anything are both the pride of full responsibility for two tiny, precious beings, and the quiet moments with each
girl: Lucia whispering to me from the stairs as she is now at the end of
naptime, Greta resting her head on my should at 3am as she falls back to sleep,
Lucia’s hand on mine as I attempt to pin her hair back with a pink glittery
barrette, her eyes searching my face.
And we did get into a rhythm all our own: the playground at
Taylor Park was our playground. The swing-set at our neighbor’s house we
visited from 6:45 to 7 most evenings. Picnic lunches were always out in the
backyard in the shade.
We can’t wait for mommy to return. But these 10 days have
been a gift I will never forget.
Love,
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