Jacob’s
mommy needed a babysitter for the next eighteen months while she returned to
college for an advanced degree, and I was two months into a hard-earned
retirement and wasn’t very excited about this request.
My
baby grandson was five months old, so he couldn’t talk, couldn’t crawl, and
couldn’t stop filling his diaper. Up to
now, his life had been spent eating, sleeping, and smiling at everyone around
him. If I couldn’t take care of him, the
alternative was to send him to a daycare.
I
had announced my retirement after thirty-seven years in education. I took the
engraved clock I was given as a memento for all my dedication (it has never
worked and only gathers dust), and was looking forward to doing nothing but
recovering my health and sanity. I suffered from a nervous tic in my right eye,
a compulsive eating disorder, and work-induced PTSD. I no longer smiled nor
slept and my blood pressure read like a Texas Lotto billboard.
I
don’t know who needed who more, but while I figured it out, I decided to help
with Jake.
For
the next twelve months, I ditched my executive suits for Capri’s and Wal-Mart
sweat pants. My power lunches downgraded to diet frozen dinners and PBJ’s, and
I spent many happy hours at McDonald’s and the neighborhood park.
After years studying all about learning theories,
educational innovations, and other academic mumbo-jumbo, it was time to put it
into practice.
When
he wasn’t eating, sleeping, or filling his diaper, Jake and I read. We started with one-word books and soon
progressed to the peek-a-boos and the kind you press a button and it makes
noise.
We
explored everything both indoors and outside, and long before he could talk, we
conversed. He pointed to things when I
asked him questions. He went and got
objects when I asked him for them.
He
learned to crawl reaching for his favorite books, and he learned to stand
picking out a book off his book shelf. Once
he learned to walk, he would toddle over to me with armloads of books he wanted
us to read. He also learned to sing and dance to his grandma’s favorite music
videos.
At
the end of one year, it was time to go our separate ways. I hated
saying goodbye to Jacob, but he is very social and needed kids his own
age. I needed folks a little closer to
mine. I was still available if he needed me, but we needed to send him
to daycare.
Before
we parted, he told me I was his best friend (and I was probably his first), but there will be many more friends in his
life. I will always count him as one of mine.
The year I spent raising Jake changed me forever.
I could just see you reading to Jake and playing at the park with him. Please keep your stories coming. I do so enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Very kind.
ReplyDeleteThats my boy. Just like somebody very wise and very........old told me. Quality time is what counts not quantity.
ReplyDeleteThat's my boy - thank you, Joseph. I love you too, son.
Delete