Hey, watch this!
I wait for your wings to grow
because something always comes next.
In the kitchen I’m busy with wrinkle-watered hands
As you crawl and open and learn new sounds
(even sudsy, I know your living-room ways)
and I know just when my minute is up
so I let drip-dry the last plastic cup and enter the room
where Fischer Price is the latest décor and I go to you
(scanning stereo wires still intact)
and my eyes find the coffee table—
you’re standing, rocking and baby talking when only yesterday
you stared upwards from the ground.
I say your name in my proudest voice
and you smile at me in your proudest way
and I get on my knees to play your game
because I can think of nothing better
than feeling proud close to the ground;
that way I can catch you if you fall
or if you decide to fly away.
“Being at home can be fun, insulating, relaxed, boring or isolating ... depending on how the day is going.”*
School holidays are almost over in my part of the world – six long weeks of noise and squabbling balanced by hot, lazy days at the beach or the pool with lots of daring exploits and laughter. Many of our days were spent at home, basking in simple pleasures like baking, playing games or outdoor pursuits – trying to relax the everyday routines of school-morning bustle and ‘having to be somewhere on time’. However pleasant, I must admit to being relieved that life gets back to normal next week, and I can reclaim some of my own time for writing again!
* From Being Mummy by Anne‑marie Taplin published April 2007