I do it

Jan 17

Greta.  Oh my.  How to sum up that girl these days is quite the challenge.

In the morning she immediately wants to know, “Where Maren?  Where Daddy?”  She is so social and always wants to know where her people are.

She inspires me to start my day with that much enthusiasm.

Today I was trying to do the dishes, and unload the dishwasher.  I was being ambitious and also trying to clean the microwave and wipe down the appliances.  I’d set up a few toys and turned on some cartoons in the hope that she and Maren would entertain themselves while I beat back the dirt and grime in the kitchen.  Greta, as usual, kept coming into the kitchen and telling me to “Hold you, hold you,” which is what she says when she wants me to pick her up.  I would pick her up and plunk her on the counter where she could see what I was doing.   Since all of the jobs I mentioned have no interested whatsoever for a 20-month-old, she would get bored, and wiggle, and go play for a few minutes.  Repeat.  Finally, I gave up and went into the family room with her.  She said, “Sit!  Couch!”  So I did.  And she climbed up on the couch on my right side and sat hip-to-hip next to me.  She then took my right arm and wrapped it around her while she leaned into me to watch some cartoons.  She found her comfy position, then looked at me and smiled, and then turned to the TV.  She was perfectly content to sit and watch cartoons as long as I was right next to her.

That’s my Greta: she’s all in, all the time.

She’s teaching me that couch time is more productive than doing jobs, just in a different way.

She loves doing buckles: the ones for her high chair, car seat, and shopping cart are her favorites.  Each time she moves to one of the aforementioned seats, she flaps my hands away with “I do it!  I do it Mom!  I do it!”  And I tap my foot (im)patiently while she works at it.  If I see an opportunity, I sweep in and line them up so that the process goes faster, but often that results in more flustered “I do it”‘s, so it’s not worth it.

She’s teaching me patience.

At the end of the day I was looking for something that would entertain all three of us.  Maren wanted to play babies, so we walked around the house and found all the baby dolls.  We also got the basket of “baby stuff”: bottles, baby food, toys, diapers, clothes, etc.  For an hour, we played together on the family room floor.  Greta was holding everything up to me.  “What’s this Mom?”

“A bottle.”

“Oh.”  She said, “Bottle.”  Then she would pick up the next thing, “What’s this Mom?”

“That’s a bib for the baby Greta.”

“Oh,” she said, “bib.”

She wants to know everything.

We finished playing babies by playing Ring Around the Rosie in the family room.   There were six of us all holding hands: Maren, Greta, me, and three baby dolls: Red Baby, Rosie, and Blue Baby.  Each time we fell down, Greta stomped her feet and said, “Do it again!  Do it again!”

I can’t wait to see what she does tomorrow, and every day after that.

6 comments

  1. It’s so sweet…she LOVES her mommy! And times like this will be all the sweeter when you read it years later. 😉

  2. Bonnie J /

    Sounds like a ” gramma day ” at my house “-) those days are to be treasured and from one doer to another. …couch moments and playtime are the best!! Kitchen stuff will always be there. I’ll take all the little girl snuggling the Lord grants me.

  3. Marlayne Skeens /

    Oh my Jen ~ this woman is tired thinking back what it use to be like with 1 child ~ LOL ~ I had trucks lined up, as I had a little boy 🙂 With my son, years later, 2 little Granddaughters 🙂 They are 8 & 10 ~ still have questions & want to share time with Mammy 🙂 I So Love Your Stories 🙂 ENJOY, as they GROW UP WAT TOO FAST 🙂

  4. “Hold you” is still one of my favorite memories from when my boys were little. ♥

  5. Jen, You are a wonderful, amazing mother! I cherish these Maren, Greta stories! thanks for sharing.

  6. Sallie /

    I love hearing about your moments with your precious little daughters! It just makes my heart ache for the moment someday in the future when I will have that opportunity too. I trust in the Lord that it will come, though, as my husband and I know all too well, it’s hard not to get too anxious for it some days. In any case, I love your love stories, and admire the mother that you are. Thanks for your amazing faith and example!