Today I’m babysitting my newphew Henry, while his mom and dad and my mom and dad are at Wicked. And I’m happy to report that after 4 1/2 hours–both aunt and nephew are still alive. My nephew is napping and I am writing, eating popcorn, and drinking some mango/peach/orange juice.
We all ate at the diner on my corner before the show. My sister went down the list of cries that I should know. keep in mind that I’ve only ever seen a happy Henry and if he did get fussy, I’ve never been alone with him to make him Happy Henry again.
It is all about the frozen bags of milk in my fridge that my sister brought up with her. That has stopped him every time. Granted, I gave singing a go. But I only know ABC and Twinkle, twinkle. Well, I also know prayers from the Shabbat Service. Henry got a fair share of “baruch ata adonai, elohaynu melech ha’olam.” I sang him the Me Sheberach, the Amida, the kiddush, the sh’ma. All sort of jewish prayers–those are the only melodies I know.
What else have I learned? I need to start doing yoga and exercising now, so that in 3-5 years I MIGHT be in good enough physical shape to be a mom. How does my sister do it? My arms got tired after three blocks. I need to strengthen and stretch my wrists, work on my posture, spinal strength. All sorts of things.