Connected

I have found, with each of the three babies we've been blessed with, that the hardest part about the transition phase (and it IS a phase, I keep telling myself!!!) is not the sleep-deprived nights (although those are pretty harsh!) nor the constant stream of interruptions (though I have had to learn how to cope better with that --- not a personal strength :P) nor the fact that you are essentially on duty 24/7.

Nope. The hardest part for me has been learning how to stay connected with God, myself, and others throughout the journey.

It's not that there aren't pockets of time available, because there are. But for availability and energy to happen at the same time --- well, it's a miracle indeed!

This summer it has been particularly challenging to stay connected with Little M. Babe requires a lot of attention, time and energy. Our rhythm of life is in upheaval and so the times we normally took to connect were no longer consistent. And, with hero dad being around all summer long, she followed him like a shadow --- which gave me a nice break, but also meant that we spent even less time in each other's presence.

Not good.
Makes parenting and training and disciplining even more challenging.
And I missed her :).

I knew I needed to get a bit creative in how we were going to share time together. As I uttered a short, but whole-heartedly sincere, prayer about this, an idea came to mind....

Grandma's tea set.

Back in spring, the gals & I had ourselves a little adventure, and headed west (all of 2 hours!) to pick up my mom and go visit my grandparents. In their mid-80's, time with them is getting shorter and shorter. We needed time together. My dear grandma, my cool grandma who drove a thunder bird and let me hang my arm out the window while we drove around town; my sweet grandma who entertained us with stories of mischief and childhood tales; my spunky grandma who laughs and laughs and laughs... gave us a little china tea set. It was time we put it to good use!

Our tea parties are brief. Iced tea and crackers or cookies are our dining fare. We sit quietly munching (I prefer to let M lead the conversations to avoid peppering her with questions and to see what she'll come up with!) or lightly chatting. Little M is THRILLED when she gets to pour the little tea pot (an MCC bargain!) and when she insists we do things, like eat our cookie, at the same time.

Our locations are random. On the deck, outside in the grass, on the living room floor --- it doesn't matter where. It is a 15-minute glimpse of heaven and it is wonderful :).

The best part is, Little M has my undivided attention for a short little while. 

And I have hers. 

And that time will run out faster than I can blink.

And in the mean time, we practice connection and enjoy conversation.