Your Turn, My Turn

Your Turn, My Turn

Under the chair…..the highchair…..I saw it. You know what I saw. Food, a cat and a puppy. And a spoon. I didn’t have time for the extra clean-up. I only had time for feeding this ‘darling’ child of mine. I had just enough time to get him cleaned up, throw his diaper bag in my car and get him to the sitter. 

My husband had already put my things at the door ready to take out to the car. We took turns riding our bikes to work and it was his turn to ride - in the rain. I had gloated a bit loudly as he headed out the door in his rain gear with his brief case. We had rain proof saddle bags for brief cases and purses so they were safe on the rainy days. 

Here I was stuck in the kitchen with rain of my own. Baby Samantha was happy and having quite a time looking over the sides of her highchair. Back and forth. Back and forth. And dropping food - one bite for Gomez the cat, one bite for little Sam, and one bite for Charlie the pup. I was frantic. Cranky. Tired. Not seeing the humour that Samantha did.  I sat down heavily on my own chair, tears coming into my eyes….I’d be late for work and who knew what the traffic would be like! 

Most babies are curious and Sam was no different. All of a sudden she stopped her spoon - the clean one I had replaced - in mid air and looked me square in the eye as if to say ‘Why aren’t you playing mommy? This is fun?’ I could feel my face soften and my tears change from sad to very grateful for this child. This precious child who could take my moment of frustration and flip it on its head. Work, traffic, extra clean-up vanished in that second and all I could see was that it was my turn to have a bite of scrambled eggs. Charlie and Gomez would just have to be patient.

While I was chewing my eggs, I picked up my phone and called work and the sitter. After a quick swallow, I told them both that I’d be a few minutes late while I cleaned up an unforeseen mess.

“Life must be lived as play.”

~ Plato