Ding! Dong!

This morning I was reminded of how much has changed in a relatively short period of time. A new couple was in the infant room this morning, dropping off their baby for what was clearly her first day (or half day) at daycare. They sat on the floor with one of the women in the room, explaining how the baby likes to be held, when she cries the most, how she likes to sleep, and so on. As I was getting ready to leave and was kissing Walker good-bye, the couple was getting ready to leave too. The mom held her baby close to her and started crying. It brought me right back to my first day dropping Walker off. I remember it taking a long time for me to leave and kissing him over and over again. Every time I'd walk away, I'd walk right back to check on him. I actually felt sick to my stomach. I just couldn't believe I was going to leave him in one place and I'd be going to another place .... without him. I remember thinking (as I watched another mom drop her baby off, kiss her forehead, and skidaddle) "How will I ever get to that point, when it's so easy to leave?" The thing I realized this morning is that it's truly never easy to leave, but it gets more manageable. It seems like every week is a new step towards independence. I guess the true test of parenthood is learning to be supportive on one hand while letting go with the other, even with little babies. They need you to hold their heads for them when their necks aren't strong then suddenly they hold their heads up all on their own. You need to cradle them because their backs aren't strong then within weeks they sit up straight without any help. It's amazing and happy and sad sometimes. I still follow Walker around with what I've started referring to as The Phantom Hand because I'm still so traumatized by the time he was sitting up on the bathroom floor and tipped right over, right while I was watching, and hit his head on the floor. I'm thinking The Phantom Hand is probably for life at this point. My right hand, 6 inches away from wherever his head or back might be, just waiting for him to teeter over. He might find this embarrassing when he moves into his college dorm, but I'm willing to take the risk.

I feel like I need to make a segue way here because if I don't I'm either going to dissolve into a puddle of jelly or start writing about puppies, kitties and flowers or something. Motherhood has made me ridiculously soft.

So, it being spring and everything, the farmers have started spreading their fields with liquid manure. And if you think about the term "liquid manure" for more than 5 minutes you probably have a pretty good idea of what it smells like. I almost wretched on my way home Monday night after picking up the dogs and -along the way- passing at least 5 freshly spread fields. Now for fun I walk around the house shouting "Ding! Dong! The shit wagon's here!"

How's that for a segue way?