Saturday, October 11, 2008

Plumbers, pudding, and leaf picking

As Sammy's hand pressed the iron down on to the wax paper my hand gently guided the iron towards the far corner. My own childhood anticipation of what the outcome would be as my mom and I created the same leaf collage thirty-five years ago fuses with Sammy's between the wax paper of our own mother-child collage. We add gold sparkles, crayon shavings, and my status as a single mother, along with his status as an adopted child of color to make the outcome not better, just slightly more colorful...

A success to report: when the agitator apparatus in my clothes washer came out with Sammy's pajamas, not only did I not panic but I took the unit apart, researched the item online, and ordered a cam replacement kit from my local appliance store within an hour. I praise the internet. With out it, I would be waiting for the plumber and his labor charges, and return visits with the exact same part in hand instead of writing this. I will invite Sam to watch me fix the agitator with the new cam, dogs and spacer for him to have a memory to blog about later...

As the boys were napping I made chocolate pudding from scratch. Watching it change from milky white to creamy cocoa and thicken under the bubbling surface I breathe in a new peace around my parenting that I can't explain. I do know that I only that find time to realize these things when I give myself half a pudding stirring chance to meditate and feel the success we are sharing in all of these milestone and simple moments.

Happy Birthday to Nana Banana my mom today. Clearly the love she folded into her mothering is at play in my heart today.