Skip to main content

A Babe(y) Magnet

WE have all heard of "Babe Magnets" - those elusive males that seem to attract the females (babes) with little effort. Maybe just by waking in the morning.

I've never met one.

But I have met Baby Magnets. You know the type - the person that can make any baby or child smile. You see them in church trying not to be the distraction to the baby/child a few pews away - but that child just can't stop smiling or cooing to the person a few pews away.

I have met and admire many natural baby magnets. Both of my sisters, Kelli and Kerri, are such draws; babies and children just adore them and the feeling is mutual. My own children just adore these aunts and often text/email/talk to them all on their own! My Mom is another - and maybe that's where my sisters got the gift! I envy their natural gift.

Maybe it's my penance for being the world's worst babysitter at times - families would call requesting Kelli and if she was busy I'd get booked. Poor kids - I'd set the clock ahead for those that could tell time so I could put them to be sooner! Until the Rosen family that lived across the street - their daughter Dana and I hit it off and the parents were pretty cool too. They would actually let me take Dana to the swim club or have friends over when I was babysitting. I went with them on vacation a couple times, too. If anything it gave me the sense that I, too, could be good (not great) with children.

Even in college, I went from wanting to never have children to in my early twenties thinking maybe one would be okay. To me, motherhood represented repression and was the antithesis to my 'burn your bra' feminism. I didn't know/truly love any children.

And then my niece and Godchild, Shannon, was born and the world opened like a flower. I would drive the five hours from the Detroit area to the Cincinnati area every couple weeks - JUST to see Shannon. My sister and brother-in-law, too, I suppose. It wasn't anything I did or changed - but that beautiful little girl baby would just smile and coo and laugh when I was with her. (In all likelihood she did so with everyone!). And I was beyond smitten. And I am beyond grateful - because Shannon opened a world to me that I am quite sure God wanted opened. Thank you, Shannon.

And then I had Michael - and I have never looked back.

Now parenting is my life - it's what I live and think about most of my waking hours. And if we're out-and-about, I am likely to be the one that is cooing and adoring the babies/children around me. I am not on the level of my sisters or Mom but a weaker, refrigerator-brand of magnet while they are the industrial sort!

Here's the thing - Children are the magnets we should all be drawn to, don't you think? And maybe what my sisters, Mom and I have isn't so much a 'baby magnet' but instead they/we are drawn to the magnet that is children.

And that is a good thing!

Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

I had to use a calculator

I have been living with MS since 1992 - I used the calculator on my phone to determine that it's 29 years (because unlike the man pictured above my math skills are lacking). That's a long time and you don't need to be mathematically inclined to come to that conclusion. And when first diagnosed, my neurologist declared that with all the research he believed a cure was imminent likely 'within five years'. that would mean that we would have had the cure 24 years ago. We don't. So I am grateful I didn't wager any money on Dr. Wiley's prediction.  But what we do have, instead of a cure, is a plethora of pharmaceuticals to help stem this disease's progression and help us live fuller lives, longer. I am happy for that but am also curious and a tad skeptical because these drugs cost a person living with MS a lot of money and pharma has no financial incentive to search for the cure when they can keep us living less gimpy lives for many years reliant on their ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Struggling to not feel like a failure

Okay all of you 'struggling to stand' or 'not wanting to have to use a wheelchair' or others that look upon using a wheelchair as a symbol of failure, you're about to get punched. Punched in the figurative sense. I am about to go on my soap box and my Irish is up which means that I'm fairly peeved (though I've been mulling this over for awhile so I'm not as angry as I once was, which means there will be fewer expletives and a kinder tone). If you've read this blog or know me at all, you know that I did not go easily into using a wheelchair as my primary mode of transport. I too, may have had a little bit of your attitude about the wheelchair being sign of failure or of having given up. My sister, Kerri, helped put it in a different light. She said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "It's actually an energy saver since walking is stressful and you're worried about falling - using a wheelchair will take away a lot of that stress. You will hav...
Post a Comment
Read more

When a New Year begins with only whispers of the previous year

  I spent the last 45 days of 2024 suffering with a wee bit of the plague.  It didn't completely stop me, but it came close. I only briefly came out of my isolation to participate in the Lakeshore Community Chorus' holiday concert, to take care of the world's most adorable bairn and then celebrate his first birthday, to attend Christmas Eve worship, to see the bio-pic of Bob Dylan, celebrate NYE with the previously mentioned adorable grandson and his parents and to have short visits with my daughter from a different mother/father and her adorable daughter. I don't think I missed any 'events'. After each of these 'events' I then went back to my cocoon (the recliner in the living room, with my blankie and water bottle). There I could cough, sneeze and ache in relative comfort with my tissues, Mucinex and Advil nearby. I also discovered the comfort of an occasional hot toddy. When there were no signs of improvement, I went to my doctor and she prescribed an...
1 comment
Read more