Something to Snuggle

My brother and sister-in-law are in town and tonight I watched their eight month old baby boy. All was great after they left to go to dinner. We played with a toy, rolled around on the floor and I sang primary songs to him.

Well, that all abruptly came to a halt. The crying began. I started going through all the usual things like food, diaper, snuggling with a bottle, walking/bouncing trying to soothe his wailing.

I am very rusty at motherhood. I've never actually been a mother; but I nannied my sister's two little ones for nearly a year. I feel like I know what to do. Well, I did, anyway.

Tonight I realized something. Mothers really do have a keen knowledge of their baby and baby's needs. Mothers don't get an owners manual with the delivery of their offspring. No, they have to learn it, hone the skill, and tweak it with each child. It is a craft. An art that must be practiced. A skill that takes perfecting. I have a goal now. To rediscover the art of mothering within me.

I believe that women are innately given a gift of nurturing, soothing, and caring. Some women shun it, others embrace it early on, some stumble onto in the beginning stages of motherhood. I was given an opportunity to practice with my sister's two kids. It's just been too long and I lost my skill. I guess you could say, I'm a little wobbly on the 'baby' bicycle.

You may be wondering how I calmed down my nephew enough to have this epiphany. My sister in law had wisely left out his 'blankey' for me to use. I spotted it, grabbed it, and held it close to my temporary ward. He grabbed on, snuggled it, and calmed right down, quickly falling fast asleep. While I held this sleeping infant in my arms, his little body still 'hiccupping' the sobs, I thought about the blanket.

That's when the epiphany came.

Aren't 'blankeys' just the best?

We both found something to snuggle.

I