And everyday that came along too! Translated…
In the morning, my oldest son rubbed his eyes, came out of his room, and aske, is mommy’s birthday here? The previous night, to put him down to bed, I’d, told him, that as he woke, it’ll be, my birthday. And, my son’s, into birthdays, anybody else’s, he’d, celebrated it like it were, his own, becoming enthusiastic, singing the songs, celebrating, even if it were toward that cake he’d made, out of his, building blocks.
On the previous day, I’d, started preparing for my son’s school the following week, I’d, trimmed my children’s hair. Their hairs are, so delicate, hard to sweep up completely, and I’d had to, sweep again and again, and a few days later, I can, still, see the hairs, left behind, in the corners. There was one more time that it’d, stuck into the flesh. How can a tiny strand of hair residue become, so, prickly? Because of how miniscule it is, it’d, gotten deep into the skin, and the flesh on the soles of my feet, and, as I’d, pinched, it’d, gone deeper in, and, it’d hurt my feet that I couldn’t walk. I’d not gotten pricked once, I’d had to, use a needle, poke a hole on my foot, ached until I started, sweating all over, then, I was finally, able to, get that strand of hair out.
My child asked, how come mom’s the only one who’d, stepped on the hairs, and gotten it in her feet?
And, not too long ago, my youngest just underwent surgery, we all remembered how the whole family stayed outside the O.R. that morn. Close to noontime, the nurses called the families to the recovery room, as I was filling out the forms at the small window, saw Y carried my youngest son who was slowly, coming out of anesthesia, the nurses were wheeling around the servings of painkillers, the two of them looked, at peace. As we got home, my youngest started, gulfing down the foods, to feel his tiny stomach which the nurses told to fast the night previous.
Then, farther before?
As my youngest started standing on his own, he was, so enthusiastic in engaging in play, while my eldest didn’t like it that someone came and BREAK his tiny little world apart. They’d started fighting over the toys, tattled on his younger brother, screamed, while I stood close, and smiled and watched them, how raucous these children are! As time passes without our awareness, the days flew by, and, these tiny changes occurred between them, because of how tiny these changes are, we’d, often, failed, to notice. I watched my youngest, reaching out, to grab his older brother’s toy from him, and how my eldest tried to resolve the matter on his own.
One day, my youngest was led into the room to sleep, and my eldest finally got to, hog all the toys. I thought he would have a grand time playing, the cars, the blocks, and the books, however he’d wanted to stack them all up, he would. But I saw him, gone to push that cars around, stacked up the blocks, and kept, standing up to look around, turned over the box of toys, to find something else he could, play with. And, not long afterwards, he’d, asked us to put him to bed. I’d, started, chuckling then, I saw him collected a box of toys, going to, find his younger brother.
I know that the heart gets, emptied out, but it will, also, get filled back up.
That was, the very first time I bore witness to, how a heart got, filled up. In every day, it had, happened, little, by little, bit, by bit, in the, barely, noticeable ways, the existence of one person, got put, into, another’s, heart, and they’d, needed one another.
And sometimes, the way it got filled back up would be like how that strand of hair got into the soles. And, you can’t come to understand HOW something so fragile, can hurt so bad.
On a birthday, I’d, prepared, a tiny cake, with the candles on top. That was the first time my two kids realized, that the candles can, get blown out. And, I saw the twinkles in their eyes the moment the candlelight died, like I was, witnessing the world’s, greatest EVER, magic trick!
The following morn, my eldest asked, mom, you don’t have a birthday anymore?
Nope!, I’d replied.
Why?
I didn’t know how to answer him. There’s, only that ONE day you were, born, but, after you were born, you are given, everyday and everyday there would be so many things happening, and you would, eat a whole lot, and there’s the nap hours, then suddenly one day, your birthday, comes, again, this was, an, alternative, sort of magic, I suppose.
And so, this, is the daily goings on of life of a mother and her two young sons, and, through her interactions with them daily, she’d, learned a lot, and, taught her children a lot too, and that, is the good kind of relating to your children, because the adults are learning to be parents, in the interactions with their young, and the children are growing, and learning, from their adult counterparts too.