Lessons We Could Learn From Kids

I have baby nursery duty once a month at church on Sunday mornings. I volunteered a few months ago because I felt that nagging maternal yearning rearing its ugly head (I'm surrounded at work by young, fertile newlyweds embarking on parenthood for the first time...we are expecting THREE babies in November alone which means I have a pretty good chance at a birthday baby this year!) Anyway, any chance of a third bundle of joy was "headed off at the pass" so to speak a month after I gave birth to Thing 2 and I'm hoping no one will be calling me grandma for many years go come so I knew I had to find a solution. (Oh, yes, plus I wanted to be of service at my church...forgot that part for a minute).

On Sunday mornings, I am strictly a baby nursery worker - anything in diapers under the age of 1. But when I volunteer on Wednesday, the ages can range from baby to 4 and last night I inherited two 2-year-olds. Two. Twice the trouble. One girl - one boy...Ava and Benjamin. Now, I've had Ava before on a Wednesday night and she's a very quiet little girl. Very busy but easy to entertain. Benjamin...now there's a different story. Busy, full of energy, never still, and totally obsessed with the child-size sinks in the playrooms. One second of unsupervised time and he would fly to the nearest sink (there were three available), turn the water on full blast, wash his hands, then pull out 15 paper towels to dry himself with. Drove me nuts but he left Wednesday night service with spotless paws.

Anyway...Benjamin's mom brought him in and introduced him to me and he immediately ran to the book shelf, chose some reading materials and ordered me to "Wead!" So I sat down on the run, expecting him to sit along side me. But no...this young man who had known me exactly two minutes jumped right into my lap, leaned back against my chest and snuggled in to get comfortable. I loved that. I haven't snuggled with a two-year-old in 5 years...and it felt great.

So last night I came away with a couple of lessons courtesy of Benjamin - you can never wash your hands enough (especially during cold and flu season) and reading is best done in a snuggling position.