October 18 – “I need …”

 

 

Cailyn provides us countless hours of fun and amazement during the times we have been babysitting her while April is in school.  In fact it's just after 6 a.m. right now, and she is due here any minute.  April has her very first day of clinical experience work, so she has to be there early.

 

Now all the days are not so happy for Cailyn.  Sometimes she – like the rest of us – gets tired and cranky.  The other day we picked her up from preschool.  On the way home she seemed somewhat out of sorts and non-communicative.  Chris asked her if she was tired.  "No." came the curt answer.  Chris countered with, "How about hungry?  Are you hungry?"  Again, "No."  She tried, "Are you frustrated?"  That was the breaking point.  She had had enough.  Her eyebrows furrowed.  Her mouth took on a pouty stance.  One arm melodramatically flew up to cover her eyes.  And she proclaimed … "I not hungry.  I not tired.  I not fustated.  I mad."  And there it was.  No amount of cajoling could draw any more out of her.  Just, "I mad."  It didn't last all that long, though.  At least not around me.  She did stay on the outs with Chris for a while, though.

 

One of my all-time favorites came the other day.  She is a master at prolonging the inevitable separation when her Mom drops her off or when she is leaving here and is not quite ready to take off.  There is always time for one last "I need a hug."  Or, upon achieving that goal, "I need a kiss."  This particular day April was preparing to drive away, so I was crouched down on the front lawn trying my best to distract Cailyn.  We had already been through the best of her kisses and hugs.  Undaunted, she kept trying.  "I need another kiss."  Still April backed out of the driveway.  "I need another Mommy hug."  The car began to pull away.  A brief look of near-panic swept across Cailyn's countenance.  She was frantically trying to come up with something – anything – to keep her Mom within arms' grasp.  And then she had it.  Her eyes lit up.  She glanced at me, then turned once again to the departing vehicle carrying the object of her affection.  And the ultimate cry burst forth from her lips, "I need some money."  And so it begins.   

 

Proverbs 29:6 says, "An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad."

 

Father, prepare my sons and their precious wives for the further joys of parenting that they have only yet imagined.  Amen.