This is going to sound strange, not being a mommy but having a “mommy moment”; it sounds strange to me too! So, let me take you back a few years so I can explain.When my nephew was 2 years old (he’s now 10), I offered to babysit him one day a week so I could develop a relationship with him. I’d missed out on doing this with
previous 5 nieces and nephews to a large extent so I didn’t want to miss out on this one. This little boy had already captured my heart but I wanted more. Well, I’ll tell you, I got more! He has always been very intelligent, not to mention that he was TWO. You mommies all know what that means, right?
You moms are all going to laugh, because although I’m eldest of six children and very capable of diaper changing and feeding, I had no idea what to actually “do” with him all day. I kept thinking how do women get anything done when they have children around? That first day I was wiped out tired when his parents picked him up because I just assumed that a toddler needed constant entertaining.
We played with his toys which took up about 10 minutes, went outside to look at plants and tell him names of flowers, and my golden retriever joined in but that took maybe another 15 minutes. I had only 6 ½ hours to go! The diaper changing took up a bit of time (I was rusty), and meal time was interesting trying to understand what he did and didn’t like – I was fooled. Then I decided, well I need a moment to rest, I’ll play some music! That was key to a very enjoyable summer of learning to interact with my nephew and develop our own special relationship.
One of first things I did was shorten hours I had him with me! I wanted to get to know him, NOT become a surrogate mom. We finally got a routine down where we listened to music and danced together. It was such great fun and we both laughed and enjoyed that. I participated with his parents in potty training phase – something I don’t feel need to do again but was a good lesson for me to learn. I learned he liked “macky cheese” for lunch and of course, since I am auntie, he got special chocolate snacks too. That made nap time even more difficult since he wasn’t ever and still isn’t napping sort. How could anyone nap with all that sugar in them anyway??
Our relationship grew and grew as that wonderful summer progressed. He was a great little helper, and even helped me clean my refrigerator one day. My dog was used to being my baby and he was jealous but ever tolerant golden. I taught my nephew how to dance, which was fun and we played lots of boy tumbling games – I’m a tomboy myself so it worked. Since it was summer I joined him at my mom’s one day a week too. He always wanted to swim with mostly me, much to his parents chagrin. To this day, Thursdays are my swimming days with him and now his sister too. I guess he brought out kid in me! You may be wondering where is that “mommy moment”, so here it comes.
