December 21, 2011
Dear Emily,
THEY said it would happen. THEY told me so. THEY said that I would be totally smitten by you, and that I would love being a GM. And I laughed. Umm…I said…I know I will enjoy having a grandchild, but I don’t think I will be “smitten.” I’ve had my miracles…two of them. And as much as I love my own children, and as excited as I am for Jay to be a daddy, I don’t think that I will be as obnoxiously silly as other GP’s I’ve been around.
Well…look at me. THEY were right and I, most definitely, was wrong. I am completely smitten by you because you are so amazing. In ten days, you will be six months old, and you have such a deliciously wonderful personality. Happiness just oozes from your very being. And as a result, everyone, especially your BB, is captivated by the joy of you.
Last Thursday you spent the night with me on a school night for the first time. Your mommy and daddy went to a Christmas party in Murfreesboro with his faculty, and since the party was scheduled to last until eleven o’clock, I volunteered for you to stay all night . Of course that meant that I would have to hustle to get you to Miss Peggy’s on Friday morning so I could be at school by 6:30, but I knew I could do it.
You fell asleep in the stroller at 7:30…no problem, I thought. Twenty minute nap as usual, play until 9:30, and into the “pack ‘n play” for the night! I’ll be in bed by ten. MY PLAN – NOT YOURS! Nope. At nine o’clock you were still snoozing in the stroller. Yikes! Forget the pj’s, forget the cereal bottle…gently move baby from stroller to bed – no good. As soon as I moved you, you woke up, and I braced myself for a long night; however, a dry diaper, comfy pajamas, and a cereal bottle put you right back to sleep so I crawled into bed by ten! The plan was on!
Until three a.m. …I awoke to sweet sounds coming from the “pack n play”….please go back to sleep. I still have an hour and a half before the alarm goes off. Fifteen minutes later…sweet sounds had turned into fussy sounds, so I reluctantly dragged myself from a warm bed, slipped quietly into your room, and peered over the side of the playpen…when you saw me, your face exploded into a gazillion smiles while your arms and legs gyrated with excitement that squealed BB! I thought you would never come! You are exactly the one person on the planet I wanted to see right now at 3:15 a.m.! Let’s play!
And that’s when I knew THEY were right. On a cold, rainy Friday morning when I had exams to give, papers to grade, and student drama to resolve later in the day, absolutely NOTHING was more important to me than playing with you at 3:15 a.m. …especially one more hour of sleep. How could I possibly care about sleep when you wanted to play? No way! I am totally, unabashedly, obnoxiously SMITTEN by you. And I am not ashamed to admit it…..THEY were right.
