My Mom came to stay with us after Holly was born, and I loved it.
I loved that she came, and she was a lot of help in many ways. But she and my Dad lived in Tulsa, and we didn't see them often, so she had no clue about my life with Joshua...the day-to-day responsibilities. The constant vigilance a person had to have just to keep up with him, and keep him safe.
My Mom kept our house clean and picked up while she was there. We had sweet friends from Sunday School and church who brought food every night, so she didn't have to cook, which was good. My Mom was a great cook, don't get me wrong, but cooking would've interfered with the two main reasons she came to stay with us which were, 1) holding Holly...and 2) dressing her up in as many of her new outfits as possible!
I mean, Holly was a beautiful, sweet baby, so can't say that I blamed her!
Honestly, I didn't care if my Mom did anything but sit and hold the baby...I was just so thankful to have that time with her...3 generations of women in our family together under one roof. I'm sure I never thought about a time she wouldn't be here.
So, about Joshua...he kept my Mom hopping while she was there. Honestly, he kept me hopping, too. I felt like I couldn't relax, because people, even people in our own families, just didn't understand how active and unpredictable he was.
I don't remember if it was at lunch one day, or after work...all I know is that Jim was home...and my Mom was still there. And Joshua made a huge, gigantic mess in his diaper that blew out all over him...and all over the floor. And somehow I was the one who ended up on the floor, scrubbing up the carpet...me with my c-sectioned self...and my Mom was the one sitting on the couch holding the baby.
What is wrong with this picture? Ha!
But Jim scooped up Joshua, and carried him to the bathroom like he was holding a bomb...and stood him up in the tub.
Please tell me y'all can relate to this.
So, I'm down on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpet, and I can hear my very Type A, germaphobic husband in the bathroom with Joshua, talking to him constantly..."don't move, Joshua...be still...don't touch that, Joshie...oh my WORD...how in the WORLD..."
My Mom was cracking up because Jim is the President of the O-VER-RE-ACT-OR's club and so he was in there being soooo dramatic, where any typical mom would've just gone in there and just taken care of it in ten seconds...and without the editorial comments.
All of a sudden, we hear Jim go, "JOSHUA...NOOOOOOOOOOO!" And then a lot of commotion in the bathroom.
Eventually, Jim came out holding a happy, squeeky clean Joshua. Jim's shirt was soaking wet and his head was completely drenched. I said, "what in the WORLD?"
Well, apparently, while Jim was running the bath water and washing Joshua off...well, you know those faucets that have that little round piece on top? And if you lift up that round piece, the shower turns on? Yeah...that's what happened. Jim was using a cup and a washcloth to wash Joshua off...all the while keeping the water running from the faucet so that "everything" could go down the drain...and Joshua reached over and lifted up that little round piece. And the "JOSHUA...NOOOOOOOOOO!" was what Jim yelled during that pause between the time when Joshua lifted up that little round piece...until the water came down out of the shower part...onto Jim's head. You know what I'm talking about! He knew it was coming...but there was nothing he could do about it.
My Mom took one look at Jim standing there, dripping wet...holding Joshua...and she started laughing. And she laughed and she laughed and she laughed. You know those times when you can laugh so hard and so long that it brings tears to your eyes? That's what happened. My Mom had tears streaming down her face as she laughed.
It's one of my best memories.
"The LORD...showers compassion on all His creation." Psalm 145:9
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