Snippets of Trying Times Now Make Me Laugh

Let me set the stage. It is a Saturday afternoon in Sarasota, Florida. I am at the home of my son and daughter-in-law, Chad and Candace. They have gone out to run some pre-Christmas errands. I (Mimi) am at home with Hadley (4 ½ years) and Shepherd (almost 20 months). Shepherd has just had palette surgery and must eat through a tube attached to a large syringe. Now mind you this little guy likes to eat and eating through a tube is not a cup of tea for him or for the one feeding him. But I, Mimi, am doing my best to get some pureed waffle down the little guy fast enough to satisfy him. He is continually giving the sign for “more” just one hint that I’m too slow, he wants more, or perhaps he wants something completely different. While I, Mimi, am pushing “food” into Shep’s mouth, Hadley is pulling a chair over to the pantry and proceeds to get out a container of Nesquick, insisting she really must have some chocolate milk. Within seconds the container drops to the floor and there now is a huge pile of Nesquick on the floor. No problem thinks my precocious granddaughter, I’ll clean it up. She begins wetting a slew of paper towels. My mind races ahead to a sticky, chocolately mess all over the kitchen floor so I begin yelling: “No Hadley. Don’t clean it up. Mimi will clean up. Hadley, please don’t bother to clean it up. Leave it on the floor. Mimi will get it. You did not mean to spill it.” Finally she transferred her attention from the pile of Nesquick on the floor to the blender her mom had left on the counter. The blender is directly in front of Hadley because she is standing in a chair (another precarious move). Next thing I know the blender’s motor is revving on high, and Hadley looks like she is about to jump out of her skin. Meantime, Shepherd is still begging for more to eat. Then I, Mimi, have a flashback to my days as a young mom with two young preschoolers. I thought how frustrated I would have been then in a situation like I was finding myself. But today it all I can do to keep from cackling out loud. The situation truly was a comedy because I know now these snippets of trying times are just that—snippets. They pass so quickly and it did! And all is well and I can tell you about it with great pleasure!