Gentle Reminder

Yesterday was the beginning of my new semester of Kindermusik classes.  I'm excited about my families and the kiddos.  One reason I love teaching Kindermusik is because of the bond that comes with the families.  I love it, which brings me to the reason of this post.  Yesterday was one hectic day.  I had taken baby M with me while I worked with my Alzheimer's patients while B went with his daddy and some of his co-workers to eat lunch.  Not bad since it's only 45 minutes.  I met up with Daddy T to trade cars back and to obtain my son and then we spent the next hour and a half riding around the city looking at houses.  Well, that's what I did.  I was trying to make B fall asleep and knew if I stopped the car, he would wake up.  So yes, you can translate that sentence to say I was pretty much wasting gas while looking at houses (which a realtor can do perfectly fine).  B finally fell asleep and when he woke up we went into the church to see if anyone showed up for the baby classes and to tie up some loose ends with the children's choir. 

Fastforward to the Imagine That! class.  (Bear in mind the fact that his nap was small, we have been out of routine for the past...oh....month, AND he was EXTREMELY irritable.)  The class went well and he enjoyed playing with the other children in there.  We finished that class and it was time for the Young Child class, which is ages 5-7.  They were playing their glockenspiels and B wanted those things.  He refused to take mine, which made him have to go and sit in the chair for a while.  Daddy T was supposed to have come to pick up the kids not long after the class had started but he never showed up.  (I learned later it was because traffic was awful because of the storms and rain.)  Needless to say, baby M decided that she would not be outdone by her brother, so she joined in the chaos that had now become my class.  By the time the parents came in, I was frazzled and ready to leave my kids at the curb!  (Not really, for those who would consider me a threat to my children.  It's just a figure of speech that means I was tired of the whining, crying, and disciplining.) 

One of the mother's asked me if I would like for her to hold baby M.  I gladly relinquished her into her arms.  One of the little girls in the class proceeded to ask the lady if that was her baby that she had been pregnant with last semester.  The mother told her "no," it was her teacher's baby.  She then said that her baby had gone to heaven.  I was floored.  Come to find out, she had a baby in March that had been terminally ill.  They knew it around 20 weeks, but decided to still carry it full-term, knowing full well that it might never make it to delivery.  God had other plans and she delivered it and the baby girl lived 4 months.  She died last month.  Needeless to say, that gave me some perspective that I needed to become unfrazzled with my precious bundle of joy.  At least I could hold her and bounce her and listen to her quite healthy lungs announce that she needs her mommy's attention right here and right now, and she doesn't care who hears this loud announcement.  I told the mother that she was more than welcome to cuddle my baby and that brought tears to her eyes.  I told her that it wouldn't be the same, but she was grateful that I would share baby M with her.  I told her the story of my cousin and why I chose to do what I do and she understood my passion.

So, on another day that's full of chaos because of being out of routines, I am choosing to remember that I had prayed for my kiddos long before they were born.  I wanted these kiddos and I'm thankful that God has seen fit for me to be able to continue to love and cuddle them here on earth.  That's all I needed...just a gentle reminder and a little perspective.