This weekend past, my mother-in-law came to visit, up from Lethbridge. It was a long weekend here in Alberta, so she could countenance the 5-hour drive.
My wife regularly exhibits a certain amount of glee when her mother comes. A large part of this, I'm sure, is a result of the distance involved and the fact that they don't see each other more than a few times a year. The larger part of the equation, I'm even more sure, is the fact that my wife and her mother will spend an inordinate amount of time out. Shopping.
This allows me to spend some alone time with my son which, in itself, is a good thing. I then play the part of dutiful husband as a duet of grinning gals comes tromping back in through the front door of the house, kicking off their shoes since all four arms to which they can lay claim are encumbered by plastic bags sporting various store logos. I ensure my son and I are comfortably ensconced in the living room as I wait, expectantly, for the inevitable question: "You wanna see what we got!" (It's actually not a question. Merely an opening gambit.)
With eyes open wide and face properly expressive, I exude all the appropriate responses as shirts, pants, knick-knacks and other sundries are paraded before me. "Won't these look just adorable on him, Si?!" "Yes they sure will." (They look just like most of the rest of his pants save perhaps a slight difference in colour.) "And I just can't wait for you to see him in this!" (It's a sweatshirt. I have sweatshirts.) "Oooohh, and just look at these! They're little booties! And they have dog ears!" (My son doesn't yet walk and has almost as many pairs of footwear as I do. I exaggerate; slightly.)
Secretly, I'm glad that my wife delights so in these sorts of purchases. I would be so much more utilitarian in my spending. "Hmmm, my son seems to have gone and split his pants. I'd best go and get another pair. Next week probably; they'll last at least until then." (Again, I exaggerate, but the balance that has been established between the two extremes that are me and my wife has our son living in a very happy medium.)
But this past weekend, she hit gold. I'm impressed. Amongst the other items my wife came home with was a replacement for his crib mobile that he could reach, and so had to be taken down before he pulled it down. This new device straps to the bars of his crib, plays soothing music, glows softly and, best of all, throws a rotating circle of light on the ceiling. The past two nights, my son has lain there, sucking on his bottle of water, completely mesmerised by the teddy bears, rainbows and stars that have recently comprised his night sky. This is not the best part though.
The BEST part is the Super Ultra Secret Feature of this magical device that operates on a couple of 'C' batteries. At any time of night, when our baby awakes - which he is not now wont to do, but still sometimes does - the contraption will sense the crib moving or the baby fussing and will start right back up! This feature kicked in for the first time the night before last, sometime after midnight. My wife and I lay in bed, tensed up at hearing our son complaining. Ten seconds later, a soothing lullaby came drifting through our door from his room. We continued listening. His complaints turned to coos and shortly to silence. YES!!
Goodnight, sweet son.
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