baby whisperer
Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 4:10 PM 
One of the things I look forward to each month is my visit to see my chiropractor, Dr. Derek. Health benefits aside, I always enjoy meeting with the young doctor for our conversations about the little synchronicities of life. He and his staff have created a welcoming atmosphere in the top floor of an old fire station. There are hardwood floors, natural lighting, and great music.
Last week, I found myself complaining about the change in schedule. Appointment hours were being expanded, but my favorite slot had been eliminated. So, I hemmed and hawed (not so very graciously) and landed on another day and time to try.
This morning when I arrived, I heard a baby crying. I realized it was the doctor’s one year old, Mia, and I overheard him saying they were a little short-handed since his wife was at the dentist and the children were in his care. Shortly, after doing my wobble chair I walked back up to the front and saw little Mia sitting in Grace, the receptionist’s lap. Underneath the desk was Mia’s older brother Ty (3). He and I carried on a wonderful conversation about Thomas the train and friends -- both of us declaring Percy as our favorite.
Soon, Mia was beckoning for my attention. She reached her chubby little arms out, toddled over and let me scoop her up. I thought she might decide quickly that I was someone she did not know and want to go back to the familiar. Nope. We were fast friends. There were three other people ahead of me for adjustments so Mia and I strolled around the space and looked out the window at the mountains and sunshine. I quickly found myself rocking with my “mom sway” that I have not used in many moons! I felt Mia’s weight shift and asked Grace if her little eyes were still open. Nope. Sound asleep. Her body getting heavier with each breath, I sat down and held the slumbering babe.
What a gift! Just a few days ago I wrote about the joy of holding my sleeping children and then today, here I was snuggled up with a little blonde angel. I wondered if somehow the Universe was granting an unknown request submitted by me in my list of 7 favorites. Hmmm…
Too soon, the time came for my own appoint-
ment and I nestled Mia onto a mat on the floor. She, of course, woke up when she was out of my arms, but soon her mother arrived to comfort her. . . The doctor said, “Lucy’s the baby whisperer”. Mom replied with a smile , “Yes, I’ve heard.” It was a wonderful affirmation that my “good mom instincts” are still intact—something that’s easy to question when teenagers are quick to try and convince me otherwise. I like to believe small children are quite perceptive and discerning in who they choose to hang out with. Baby Whisperer…I like it.
So, all of my grousing about changing days and times, turned into this wonderful little glimpse of heaven. I really wonder why I try to control anything at all…it seems like more times than not, changes turn into something more brilliant than I ever could have imagined. Are you a grouser? Or can you let things come as they may? I seem to vacillate between the two…hopefully leaning a little more toward welcoming what comes freely.
photos from paris 3.08
Reader Comments (11)
Lately I'm working on finding the gift in something otherwise unexpected, undesireable or just different then usual. Sometimes I realize that I'll just have to go on faith that this might eventually turn into a gift. Because circumstances have pointed out to me, hindsight be a wonderful thing, that there is no way I could have planned any better.
I guess the secret is to become a connoisseuse of serendipity. Expect wonderful surprises and you will get them.
By the way, the title "baby whisperer" made me think of a colleague whose annual (thankless) job it was to get the faculty chairfolk lined up in order for the academic procession so they would all appear in their proper place on the dais. Faculty -- especially at the end of a semester -- tend to be a bunch of cats to herd, so I took to calling him the "faculty whisperer". Somehow it all works out.
diff--hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing...it's the waiting for it that can be troublesome :-)
barbara--"a connoisseuse of serendipity" i love it!!! baby whisperer sounds much more inviting to me than faculty whisperer...no offense :-)
Lucy, Thanks for stopping by blisschick and getting involved with the Accountability Circle. I was very excited to see your name!
Are you using the Merton Book of Hours during Lent? I used that a lot last summer and LOVE it.
much peace & bliss to you on your journey.
thanks, blisschick. you're singing my song, how could i NOT join in?
merton is never too far from my bedside. my primary lenten focus seems to be coming from jan richardson's "garden of hollows" and her blogsite "the painted prayerbook", although abundance comes with almost every breath it seems.
delighted to see you here!!
I think "baby whisperer" is a lovely title and I can almost smell the feeling of that babe in arms:) And grumping because everything is not just the way I want it - oh, you could say it runs in the family:) the female side.....
xoxox
SS--it was quite an honor to be deemed safe enough to slumber with that sweet little babe! (guess the grumpster was at bay right then :-)
I have to say that your words just put in place for me. I was getting that grouser feeling all day and decided to sit down and "listen" to some fellow bloggers. Thank you for putting to words just the feeling I have had and would so desperately like to replicate.
ripgurl--isn't that the beauty of this crazy blogging stuff...finding where others have put into words what we ourselves cannot in the moment?
you are most welcome and thank you for sharing your gratitude :-) best of luck on turning down the grousiness!
I groused a little today in my local vehicle registration building, which is basically the opposite to your chiropractor's, which sounds lovely. It often amazes me, the difference in buildings - the unspoken things, the layout, the decor, the lighting, the lack of natural light, etc etc. My health food shop has good broad-spectrum lighting (not sure what the proper terms are, but it's lights that don't drain me, and I am a bit suscrptible to that sort of thing, like fluorescent lights for example, or those newfangled energy saving globes that make us all look like morgue occupants).
Am I a grouser? Certainly, I was a bit today, although I did try not to grouse on the people who worked there because God knows, it must be a thankless task. I groused in tears out to my car after a fruitless hour caught up the wheels of bureaucracy.
Which is why reading this post was so nice :) Because those places are little gems, the places where you can be the "baby whisperer". My womb was bouncing in agreement with you. Funny, the baby sway thing, how inborn that is. I don't have children but I know the sway :)
"I really wonder why I try to control anything at all…it seems like more times than not, changes turn into something more brilliant than I ever could have imagined" - me too!! Absolutely. How wonderful that feeling is, how absolutely deliciously wonderful! :)
sue--your comment came at a great time and helped me be reminded of my own "baby whisperer" moments, so thank you!
and the government vehicle buildings? yikes. it's a whole other topic!!! i have my own stories of leaving them in tears, too.
here's to being open to possibility.