Grandma Time

            One of the best things about having a baby is that my mom comes and stays with me. Those few days that I have with her are days that I will always treasure. I took a pre-natal class before I had my first baby, and every time I have a baby, I have to watch educational videos at the hospital, but it is from my mom that I have learned the most about how to really care for a baby. I learned that when a baby is crying sometimes he likes to be wrapped up tight, and other times he just wants his clothes off! She has taught me to cuddle a baby and smother his fuzzy head with kisses and rub his back. My mom has given all my kids their first bath. It is her assignment from me because I am not very good at it, and I have an umbilical cord phobia. :) My mom talks to the baby as she washes them and keeps them warm with a towel. Then she covers them in lotion. It is a beautiful sight. It was almost Christmas Eve before we got home from the hospital after having Greyson. With all the partying going on that week, I had decided that my mom would not have time to come give my baby his first bath. But the day after Christmas, even though I knew she was tired and had a house to clean from having company, she called me up and said she was coming. Greyson didn’t cry at all when my mom gave him his bath. He just looked at her, and that is when she told me about this poem. She said that whenever she looked at new babies, she wondered what they would tell us if only they could talk.

Day Old Child

My day old child lay in my arms,

With my lips against his ear.

I whispered strongly, "How I wish--

I wish that you could hear,

"I've a hundred wonderful things to say,

(a tiny cough and a nod),

hurry, hurry, hurry and grow

So I can tell you about God."

My day-old baby's mouth was still

And my words only tickled his ear,

But a kind of light passed through his eyes,

And I saw this thought appear:

"How I wish I had a voice and words,

I've a hundred things to say.

Before I forget, I'd tell you of God --

I left Him yesterday."

--Carol Lynn Pearson