Just Sit For a Moment

I got a phone call from a friend recently.  She just had a baby but needed to go to a class with her kindergartner - where babies are not allowed.  Could I babysit?

Watch a two-week old baby?  Yes.  And yes.

I am not an "Awww!  Sweet widdow baby!  Can I hold your precious bundle please?" kind of person.  I do not have baby envy or need baby fixes.  I like your baby - but I love mine.  You take care of your babies and I'll take care of mine.

But a new tiny baby?  That's slightly different. I babysat for my friend, because that's what friends do.  And I sat for an hour, holding a fresh little slice of Heaven. It was wonderful.

When my babies were this little, I was still healing.  My body was beginning to come to grips with the fact that it needed to shunt resources from growing a baby to feeding a baby.  I was sleep-deprived.  I was fumbly-bumbly anxious to not drop anyone on their head.  I was a crazy mother, trying to take care of a newborn and my other children and my husband and the laundry and a million household messes that pile up those last few weeks of pregnancy.  I seriously think I can (and should) do all of that.

And I sometimes forget to just sit and snuggle the new baby.

So yes, I'll watch your new baby.  And I'll rearrange my schedule so that I can hold still and enjoy the freshness of your little bundle of joy.  Because I know that the laundry can wait and dinner can wait and the messes will wait.  They will still be there when the baby goes back home with her mama.

And my day will be a little bit brighter for holding still for a moment.