For the past few weeks I haven’t spent too much time in my office. Instead, I’ve been systematically cleaning and straightening my house in a mode I can best describe as “nesting”. With the Nugget’s due-date at minus eleven days and counting, I am furiously working to insure that my home is ready to leave for an extended period of time at a moment’s notice so I can begin Nana duty.
I have cleaned out closets, mopped floors, washed windows and even finally painted over the color patches in the family room we left while trying to decide on a new color. As always, housework is a never-ending battle but I’m a taking a much more active role than is my usual in an attempt to get ahead of it. Ha!
It’s funny how the same sorts of fears are creeping into my mind as I await this grandchild as when I waited through the last days before my children were born. When Maggie was born I was alone. Dave had left just four weeks prior on a seven month cruise and those last days were primarily solitary and quiet. I cleaned, sewed, knitted and crocheted as I prepared for her arrival. We had such limited funds that instead of buying a lot of baby stuff, I did a lot of creative repurposing which kept my mind and hands busy.
By the time Andy came, a mere seventeen months later, we were a bit better off financially and I’d also discovered the boon of yard sales in our neighborhood on Saturday mornings. Dave was home some of the time, although his squadron was doing “work-ups,” preparing for their next seven month cruise which meant he’d be home for a few days and then gone for a few. As luck would have it he was home the day Andy was born.
Even though my infant experience was fairly close, I was surprised how much amnesia I had when it came to actually dealing with a newborn. I remember the first night we had him home realizing we had to give him a bath and forgetting just how I did that with Maggie. Eventually it all came back, but it all seemed so awkward at first. Flashing forward thirty-two years, I’m feeling a little bit like the maid in Gone With the Wind but with my own twist; “I don’t know nothing about bathin’ no babies!” Fortunately, I know my job isn’t to take care of Maggie’s baby, but to take care of my baby. I will do my best to keep her supported, fed, rested and happy until she and Jan decide it’s time to kick me out!
So, until I get the call, I’d better get off my butt and get the kitchen and bathrooms wiped down again. Maybe I’ll also vacuum the downstairs again for good measure.