Lightbulb

There is a women's Bible study that I attend every Wednesday morning, complete with child care. I was not planning on using the child care this year since Monkey3 is so small, but she is getting more and more unruly at the table. She grabs for books and pencils, yanks on the tablecloth, and does the back-arch-slippery-noodle routine. If I put her on the floor, she either goes under chairs, bumping her head whenever she pauses to sit up, or heads off exploring. Everyone pretty much ignores her antics, all of us in the Our Lady of Mercy group have children under preschool age, though the first-time moms of babies who are still lumps in their bucket car seats look in her in awe.

So a few times I've tried the child care. After all, she is mobile. Crawling, but easily overwhelmed. If the other kids get too loud, which with a bunch of two- and three-year-olds is a given, she's done, and last week when I walked off, she simply howled in disbelief until returned to me. So much for Biblical conversations.

Sometimes I'll try to settle her down by wrapping her. It goes like this: drape the wrap around her shoulders, two long streams of cloth on either side of her, swing her up on my back, fling the ends this way and that, tighten up the material, adjust and check, and tie off the ends. When I finish, someone is always staring pop-eyed at me.

I know, it is pretty incredible. But it is the only way I can get anything done.

Frequently someone will approach me after the study with exclamations and questions.

That was amazing! She really likes it! How did you learn that? Was it hard? How long did it take to really get? Does it hurt your back? Have you ever dropped her?

Always I reference the Babywearers International group that started me wrapping, with frequent mentions that an aunt showed me how to do the back carry. It was not hard. In two days I had the front wrap carry down; putting her on my back took me longer to get comfortable doing, though it got easier as my baby grew. No, it does not hurt my back; it is completely comfortable, except when she pulls my hair. And no, I have never dropped her. Once she rolled off my back, I caught her and said, "What are you doing?" She said, "Waaaa!" and then I noticed somebody's grandma had jumped out of a nearby car, breathlessly asking if we were okay and if she could help. But no, I have never dropped her and she has never hit the ground. And yes, she really does like being carried this way! She's just all smiles.

After one of these conversations I thought, "I should really get some of the Babywearers' business cards to hand out when people start asking questions and want to learn how to do it too. "

And then the lightbulb.
Just as I have no qualms about wrapping my baby during Bible study, I need no qualms about living as a Catholic. It needs to be so unconsciously part of my life that people will say:

That was amazing! You really like it! How did you learn that? Was it hard? How long did it take to really get? Does it hurt? Have you ever been dropped?

...

Whoa.
That lightbulb is so bright that my head still hurts, and it turned on almost two weeks ago.