What is it about selective memory? I remember telling myself during the labor of our first son, "don't forget. Don't allow yourself to forget this pain. You must not do this again. It's so horrible. Delivering a baby is so incredibly painful." Dan yelled, "breathe!" And I seethed, "you try birthing a watermelon through your nose!"
I told myself I would not join the ranks of those women who have delivery amnesia. I would remember so as not to forget the past and be condemned to relive it.
Then Elliott was conceived and born. Thank G-d.
Then Jeremy was conceived and born. Thank G-d.
Told myself the same thing when we brought home our first puppy...
Our three babies have turned into 3 very grown, very convincing sons. We have at any given time dogs, fish, frogs, leopard gekkos, a snake (another blog, another time as I'm still traumatized), 17 chickens, a dozen ducks... You get the picture.
Just imagine a zoo. "Mommy?" Jeremy inquires last Monday on the drive to school. "Mommy, do you ever feel like you live in a zoo?" Only every day!!!!!!!!
A couple of years ago my boys (three sons, one husband) began the campaign for a new puppy. I played every card I could think of but they would not let up. Finally, I played the trump card. "I cannot possibly consider another 50 pound dog in this house. There is barely enough space for three growing boys, the pets we have, and all of your athletic shoes!" There was, I thought. no counter argument for this one. And in fact, the conversation ended.
Or so I thought. In July we moved into a new house. My dream house with my dream kitchen. The boys fit nicely too. The pets all have a place to call home. And the athletic shoes, though not always arranged in the cubby room in a manner that would be considered orderly, do fit. Dan finally has an office that suits his, shall we say- unique organizational style. Clearly, it works for him. Magnet 360 seems to grow and expand at a rate similar to the bunnies the kids are now begging me to have in our zoo.
And so, here I sit. An opportunity to blog because I'm tied to my kitchen. A bread rising on the counter because I can. A rich and fragrant vegetable stock waiting to boil on the stove because I am here. Here wearing my coat and clogs because I am on permanent puppy training duty and that means every 20 minutes, the kitchen timer rings, and me and my girls, Dog Ricky and Puppy Daisy, go outside. Come rain or shine, we go outside every 20 minutes. While picking out our new puppy, I somehow forgot that the boys don't really help with the puppies as they promise they will and it falls on me- Honorary Zoo Keeper.
Selective amnesia has given me some of my greatest gifts and blessings. Thank you G-d for allowing me to forget the pain of birthing my beautiful boys and all of the countless trips outside to train a puppy. Thank you G-d for a place to call home. Thank you G-d for my zoo.
Timer just went off. Gotta go...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:My Kitchen
No comments:
Post a Comment