I turned the heat down. The burner was on high and the water was boiling over. I walked away and forgot again and came back to stir and the noodles were kind of stuck on the bottom. Elsie woke up from her nap and she was so snuggly. More snuggly than her usual, with one pudgy hand on either of my cheeks and her face smashed into my chin. She stayed that way a long time and I hugged her back. Then we went to stir and drain the noodles and the steam was going all the way to the ceiling and Elsie stared at it in awe.
I turned the heat down in the house because it’s 30 degrees outside and that’s balmy for Minnesota. I knew if I left it up, Miles would sweat in bed later because he’s just such a little hot box.
I fed Elsie from her tiny spoon and bowl and then took her to the bathroom to wash her hands. The hot water works better faster, so I’m always turning it down to be sure she’s okay.
Later on, I ran the bath for the boys and turned down the heat again, to get it to the place they like it most.
Everything in my day is measured this way, with care and adjustments, round and round and over and over, turning down and breathing deep and leaning in for the just woken baby to give me the boost to keep going.
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This is the 22nd installment of Just Write, an exercise in free writing your ordinary and extraordinary moments. {Please see the details here.} I would love to read your freely written words so join me and link up below. You can add the url of your post at any time. Just be sure it’s a link to your Just Write post, not to your main page. Then please link back to this post in your post so people know where to go if they’d like to join in.) (Any links not following those two guidelines will be deleted.)
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This is nice. I love the repetition of turning down the heat.
Jade @ Tasting Grace recently posted..Imagine You Are Thirteen Again
I just a few minutes ago turned the heat up. My hands and nose are like ice! I don’t know why I am so cold. I can just see her in awe. I imagine when I would cook like that with Ivy in the sling. Ouch do I miss that, sometimes.
Steph
Adventures In Babywearing recently posted..love the road you’re on
We are always making adjustments, aren’t we? It’s like one of our motherish love languages.
(My C is a little heater at night too. Judging from the sweat that pours from that kid you’d think he’d need an IV every morning just to get rehydrated…)
Jo@Mylestones recently posted..Because Tuesday’s one of my trigger words too
Don’t let the monotony of raising little ones get to you. It will be over all too fast and you will never recapture those precious days. Enjoy them.
Shanda Oakley recently posted..When Enough Is Enough / On Your Heart Tuesday link open.
Actually, what I’m saying is that there’s beauty in the monotony. And even so, even when we see the beauty (a way of enjoying it), it’s okay to admit the days can be hard and tiring. It doesn’t mean we don’t know it will go so fast. My last post was actually about wanting to keep each version of my kids because they change and grow so fast.
I respond to your words this way because I’m sensitive to someone saying “don’t let…get to you,” about something that gets to everyone sometimes, even the most grateful and patient mother. When a mother is told her perspective is off in this way, it stings.
The things I do for my kids, always thinking of them and caring for the little things only I could know to do, that’s an honor, and what this post was about.
Heather, this post resonated with your living in the beauty of each moment. I didn’t detect a whiff of complaint.
But I do hate the word whiff.
Ann recently posted..Another JUST FRIENDS Valentines for yours truly, Medusa.
Measuring our days is so simple and so hard, isn’t it?
Bridget recently posted..I’m sorry. (Again).
You’re so right. My husband was home today during naptime – he usually isn’t – and the girls wouldn’t settle for him. Try this, I said – or this, or maybe it’s this. It’s not until someone is beside me during the day that I realize I’m making little adjustments here and amendments there, tuning into their needs and responding to them (not that it always works!). Like Jo above says, it must be part of the unspoken language of mother love.
Yes, this. So much care and turn and fix and change.
And we know this, but even so we’re exhausted at the end of the day.
Le sigh.
Galit Breen recently posted..Memories Captured February Linky!
I love those more snuggly than usual moments. So precious.
The careful measurements of motherhood. You captured it perfectly.
Tracie recently posted..How (NOT) To Bowl
Beautifully written on such an everyday chore! My favorite: “Everything in my day is measured this way, with care and adjustments, round and round and over and over”.
Raw Thoughts and Feelings recently posted..The Contradiction Tug
That is just so sweet. I love the regular, typical day nature of everything you said. I think we over look the everyday of life sometimes.
Upstatemamma recently posted..Listening
Oh man, I want some baby snuggles.
nicole recently posted..Just Write: Unprepared
Heather, I love this! It is so true that we all have those little moments and responsibilities to lean into that matter so much. I love the delicate, transparent pictures you paint for your readers.
<3 – Mollie
Mollie recently posted..Listener
beautiful. gosh do i adore those boosts! i relish in them every chance i can. :)
Love this, Heather. So, so much. You know it.
Sarah@EmergingMummy recently posted..In which [love looks like] a back injury and an apology
Love this. Thank you for the inspiration. I joined in – just in time, hear her waking now…
Rosemary recently posted..Just Write
Yes. Exactly this. There IS beauty in the monotony and sometimes we’re too tired by it all to catch it. Thank you for catching it for us here, today, Heather. this is lovely. Could just picture your little one fascinated by that steam rising. It is wondrous to see, you know?
Diana Trautwein recently posted..Waiting: How Long? How Hard?
“… to get it to the place they like it the most.” You’re such a good mom, Heather. Making just the right adjustments. :)
Elaine recently posted..Beaucoup de Chiens
though everything you write here is something that i can relate to, it’s that “leaning in for the just woken baby to give me the boost to keep going” that truly takes the cake! that one second, that single breathing in of that precious baby scent and all the love that comes rushing in: it’s the precious gift that shines the light on all the other seemingly mundane routines (which are actually little gifts in themselves, aren’t they? otherwise we wouldn’t hear of older empty-nest sisters missing precisely those moments. :)). thanks for a lovely reflection of Real Life. :)
LivE recently posted..Stop. Right. Now.
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