Zekey is my baby, my last child. That sounds weird when verbalized. It sounds so final. After several serious and in depth conversations, Zach and I decided that we were done having children. I hated pregnancy. You know how “they” say that pregnant women glow? Well I think I must have glowed in the dark because being pregnant was more of a “horror story” for me than a “romantic comedy.” I love being a parent, don’t get me wrong. I love my children more than a fat kid loves carbs! But we took the necessary “steps”toward finalizing this decision. There are days when I consider all the pros and cons of childbearing and am content with this decision. Having said that, there are also days when I see a newborn smiling for the first time or a toddler taking those clumsy first steps when I wonder if we’d made the right decision. It’s amazing how your heart is transformed the minute you look into your child’s eyes for the first time. My life has been made complete through my children. So why is it that I cringe every time I hear the words those four simple words come out of Zekey’s mouth, “MOM,WIPE MY BUTT!”
I can’t remember the last time Abi needed assistance in the restroom. She’s six years old now and far too sophisticated with her first grade vocabulary and maturity. To be honest I can’t remember the last time she need help with much of anything. Now that she’s reading, spelling, adding and subtracting, she seems to have it all figured out. In fact, I can probably come to her instead of spell check and she could teach me a thing or two. I get sad when I think about how gradual this independence happened, it seems to have snuck up on me. It was like one day she’s asking for help and the next she’s explaining to me how ‘I comes before E accept after C.’
Abi lost her first tooth and she was one of the last if not the last in her first grade class to experience this epic phenomenon. I can remember countless conversations during
her kindergarten year, usually after kids started losing teeth, she’d cry and ask me when it was going to be her turn to lose a tooth. I’d smile and say, “It’ll happen sweetie … in God’s time.” That was my fancy way of saying “I don’t know.” Expert advice, I know, you can thank me later. So the day came, it finally arrived when her first lose tooth surfaced. I was a momentous day in the Bumgrabber household. We celebrated with the sticker song, which we used to sing to her after she’d make poo-poo or pee-pee in the potty during potty training. A few weeks later, it was time. The moment she’d been waiting for since her kindergarten year was here. Her tooth was finally loose enough to pullout. We invited Lala (her grandmother)over and gathered around the table to watch the spectacle. She was ready, she was excited, and she was prepared to pull it out herself. There was no backing out. It was on. We counted to 3 and she pulled a few times but decided that Daddy’s help was necessary. He pulled on it once and it came shooting out. Shocked and excited, we celebrated this milestone with her! God’s time finally came!
her kindergarten year, usually after kids started losing teeth, she’d cry and ask me when it was going to be her turn to lose a tooth. I’d smile and say, “It’ll happen sweetie … in God’s time.” That was my fancy way of saying “I don’t know.” Expert advice, I know, you can thank me later. So the day came, it finally arrived when her first lose tooth surfaced. I was a momentous day in the Bumgrabber household. We celebrated with the sticker song, which we used to sing to her after she’d make poo-poo or pee-pee in the potty during potty training. A few weeks later, it was time. The moment she’d been waiting for since her kindergarten year was here. Her tooth was finally loose enough to pullout. We invited Lala (her grandmother)over and gathered around the table to watch the spectacle. She was ready, she was excited, and she was prepared to pull it out herself. There was no backing out. It was on. We counted to 3 and she pulled a few times but decided that Daddy’s help was necessary. He pulled on it once and it came shooting out. Shocked and excited, we celebrated this milestone with her! God’s time finally came!
That night, we, I mean “the tooth fairy” paid her a visit. She made $3 in quarters, just enough for a load of laundry at the Laundromat. Yes I know we, I mean “the tooth fairy” is a bit of a cheapskate. “The tooth fairy” is also broke, okay people,don’t judge. The next morning, Abi stormed into our room upset and crying. She explained how “the tooth fairy” took her tooth and left her money. She explained how she’d waited so long to lose her first tooth and it wasn’t fair that “the tooth fairy” took her tooth. Then she added, “Tell me the truth…was it Daddy?” This is a moment when a parenting manual would have been useful. What do you say to a child? I tried to answer without smiling, “well…um.What do you think?” She said, “I don’t think fairies are real.” Wow, okay so family meeting time…what do you do in this situation. I said what any responsible parent would say,“Ask your daddy.” After having “the talk”or at least the first talk of many, Zach and I found out that not only was the tooth fairy a kid’s parents sneaking into their room at night to give them money after losing a tooth, Santa Clause was also their parents and the Easter bunny was just some guy in a bunny suit. To our dismay, Abi figured all of this out doing her own research at school.
I say all this because I know that ONE day I will no longer hear those 4 words seeping through the cracks of the bathroom door. “Mom, wipe my butt!” So I will take the advice that “they” give and concede to enjoy this season because like all the ones before it... this season will pass in God's time!
Ecclesiastes 3:1 'For everything there is a season,
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