It really seems to be happening. My little family of three seems to be shape-shifting into one of five. As I write this A is at her place working on her dissertation while my kids and I watch her amazing litle daughter M. It all feels very natural, oddly comfortable. I had a long radio interview today that I didn't want to cut short but thought I'd have to to pick my kids up from school. But wonderful A volunteered to pick up my kids. Wow. When my ex and I were married everything was a horse trade. We split the parenting duties right down the middle as if we were already divorced. There's a New York Times article this week about exactly that kind of arrangement.
Now with A it feels so much more giving than contractual. We had friends over for our first dinner party last night and she did all the shopping. I cooked the salmon and the garlic bread, she made the salad. Today, as I said, she picked my kids up from school but then when I got back from my interview she went home to work for a few hours while I watched her little M. I was actually hoping the Ava would do most of the watching however weekends I allow her to watch TV so Ava immediately became hypnotized by the Disney Channel. M is a Dora addict so I put it on my old lap top in the kitchen. Chet was on the kids' computer playing Sonic. I snuck off to my office to answer emails and write this blog.
M ran into my office smiling and town criering about the poop in her diaper so I laid her on the kitchen floor and started to change her. What a powerful emotional memory hoisting her two little legs in the air like a turkey while I reached for the Costco wipes. I was reminded of Al Pacino in The Godfather III: "Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in again!" Unlike Pacino, however, I am delighted to be pulled back in. As my two are getting more and more dependent I've been missing having a really little one around.
Just as I was starting to get misty about how lucky I was to have another great little baby in my house, M started howling for her mommy. I'd forgotten how mercurial little ones can be. I held her and tried to explain that we'd be seeing her soon for bbq but she was having none of it. Then I brought her over to Ava. She's Ava's biggest fan and Ava peek-a-booed with her until she started smiling a bit. Then M noticed that Dora was still playing on the computer and she crawled back up into her chair to watch.
