2001-08-17 - 21:48 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Loving Wonder

To us our fifth child, a girl was a total gift of God. She was born to a 38 year old woman and a 42 year old man. She had siblings in a wide age range. Brother 19, sister 15, sister 14, and brother 12.

Preparations for the birth were diligently and cheerfully made. Anticipation and expectation rose to a fever pitch as the birth neared. We were very proud of our kids, like Heather and I the feeling was boy or girl the newbie would be loved to the depths of our souls. Heather, although quite tired toward the end still had that glow as much as she had with the first, second and on up kid.

The poor baby did eventually get put in her bassinet late, because everyone had to have a turn at caring for her.It really surprised me that a diaper change was considered a treat to the one taking care of her at the time. The girls helped Mom at the bathing, powdering and dressing with much excited conversation going on amongst them as they gussied up the baby.

The baby soon made her personality quite evident to all of us. Sweet, gentle little lady she was -- and is to this day. Happy, content and had one or another of our nuclear family around her all the time.

I guess her coming up among older siblings helped her be quite mature early on. She was given a doll and it was named Baby Boo, she doted on it and wore the hair off its head taking it into the bath tub with her when she bathed and of course Baby Boo would get a shampoo too. Then the name Baby Boo was also given to her. I don't know who started it but the practise of sweeping off her feet, giving her a hug and the pickee saying, "I love you Baby Boo," and doing a few dance steps or a jounce or two, it was much to her enjoyment.

She was a remarkably intelligent little lady, I would bring her home some candy and tell her to save some, and she did along with giving brothers and sisters some too. Along the line the big kids would try to cozzen as much candy out of her as she would give them. Months and months passed -- one day Heather and I an insane mood of cleaning right down to the bare wood, paint or what ever, pulled her crib out from the wall to clean and wax there. Way back in the far corner was her stash, it looked to me that part of every bit of candy that was given to her was stashed there. She was very generous, but two steps ahead of brothers and sisters. That piping little sprite was savvy.

She housebroke early on like her sisters but her one weakness was that she didn't want to give up her bottle. She would eat food at table but wanted her bottle too. There was no way in the world that any of us could have the chutzpah to withold her bottle. She didn't throw tantrums or be ornery, she would look at us with questioning eyes and would go to the one she thought would provide what she wanted, her mother most of the time.

Heather and I cussed and discussed the bottle situation, both of us knowing that she should be off the bottle. But as she wasn't unduly gaining weight and also well fed on solid food, we let her go with her precious possession, "The Bottle."

Late in the year as Christmas approached and Baby Boo got excited about Santa coming, Heather and I put our Michavellian plan into the works. We didn't lie exactly but began talking about so many kids in the world who didn't have milk or bottles and nipples to use to drink it. We talked about people and groups that were sending powdered milk to them but the milk when mixed was being given to them in old heavy, thick, clumsy cups and how much of the precious milk was being wasted by spill overs. As Christmas neared we asked each other if we could buy bottles and nipples to send to the poor kids I would say, "If you buy bottles to send the kids, what will our kids here at home have to give up ?" Then segued into, "I'll bet Santa could leave bottles and nipples off at the homes of poor kids, if someone would leave them on their back steps." Our beloved child, listening and thinking finally volunteered to give up her bottles and nipples for Santa to take to the poor kids. Was it a scam ? I don't think so. The truth was in what we said, and when Santa (me) picked up the nursery stuff, the new stuff ended up at the Goodwill.

She took great interest in seeing that milk and cookies were left out for Santa, arranging the cookies, "just so."

Finally after she was put to bed and fell asleep we brought out her Christmas presents. It was a rough Christmas for all of us. I made her a wooden table and chair to go with it, a rocking cradle, a kidney shaped stool low enough for her to sit on. I had brought some square pieces of 1 by cut into squares for her to play with, Heather and the girls had painted them all and put various decals on them. They were not cubes, but they stacked nicely and lined up as little walls.

I took the bottles and nipples and put them in the trunk of the car, came in and drank the milk and ate the cookies. Heather wrote a note from Santa thanking her for being so generous in giving away her precious bottles. She would have recognized my handwriting, Heather disguised hers quite well. Seems to me that a few chin whiskers were left on the chair. Am trying to remember what they were, think they were something from a flower shop maybe.

For the rest of us there weren't many presents, I had made bookshelves for Heather and also a wooden hurricane lamp with its glass chimney. The kids had all come up with something for their Mom and me. We all got mostly clothing, stuff that would have to have been purchased anyhow. Mother-in-law sent me her usual denim work jacket and a pair of gloves.

But for most of us our Christmas was in watching Baby Boo with her presents.

The little red stool I made for Baby Boo has been used by her two kids and is still at her house, guess maybe for her grandkids to be later on when her kids have kids.

Boo has grown to be a very intelligent lady with a Master's degree - I think in merchandising. She quit work when she felt that she needed to be home a while before the birth of her first. And she has stayed home ever since. But she is not penned in, she is active in her church, Junior League. There are a few ladies in her neighborhood that she does early morning jogs with. Frequent visitors from the Uni where her husband works come for dinners. All of this as well as being a super Mom who helps her kids entertain themselves and throws herself into every school project that the kids are working on.

So our grown up Baby Boo is a Loving Wonder . . . . . . .

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