They Tend to Walk Before They Run

When my kids were small bedtime was often the most trying time of the day, due in part to the fact that they were less than two years apart. I’d start early getting them bathed and fed and then Phil would rock one while I tried to put the other one down. If it took longer than say, ten minutes, I’d come back to find my husband, tired himself from a long day on the farm, sound asleep in the rocking chair while his young charge toddled around the house playing with his or her toys. God love him, he meant well.

My cousin Elizabeth says her husband doesn’t fall asleep, but she does worry about his tendency to zone out during baby duty. Last Saturday she laid their baby girl on a blanket in the living room and asked her husband to watch her while she got lunch ready.

“Sure, honey,” he said, even as he adjusted the volume on the big football game. Elizabeth paused. She thought about cautioning him to pay attention but decided that was just too bossy, so she left for the kitchen. Elizabeth was tossing the salad when she heard the baby crying like there was no tomorrow. Immediately she ran down the hall, past the TV room to the master bedroom following the sound of the crying. The poor little thing had managed to get herself trapped behind the bedroom door. Elizabeth carried the baby back to her husband and planted herself in front of the TV with a, “What do you have to say for yourself” expression on her face. “Your daughter was in the back bedroom,” she said. “Or didn’t you hear her crying?”

Her sweet husband decided to go with humor as his best line of defense. Paul gave his wife his most charming smile and said, “I swanee, ‘Lizabeth. She was just here a minute ago. Our little girl must’ve taken her first thirty-five steps!”

~Shellie