He Takes My Heart With Him

Buh-buh-buh

We went on a walk around the neighborhood last night. My husband was working, so it was just myself and a whole passel (it seemed) of kids. My daughters, eight years and four years old, rode their bikes. They both chose flip-flops as their shoe of choice, over my protests that the shoes would "flip" and "flop" right off as they pedalled. Their helmets both safely on and blond hair flowing out the back of both, they argued, as they rode, about whose turn it was to be in front.

Nate, who is a little over two years old, and Jack, at almost ten months, rode in the double stroller. Jack rode in back, so he could grab onto the back of Nate's seat and bounce. Their blond heads sailed smoothly down the block as I pushed. Nate looked for trucks and an opportunity to steal Jack's pacifier when I wouldn't be paying attention. Jack made noises into his hand. "Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh" he babbled, sitting straight up so he wouldn't miss anything.

We stopped and dropped off some hand-me-down clothes at our neighbor's house. They have a baby boy who is almost three months old. He still has that baby smell, so as I held him for a minute, I inhaled deeply. My girls laughed at me.

We were about halfway through our walk, when my four year old decided she was done and alternated between crying and complaining for the rest of the trip. At one point, she laid her head down on her handlebars and refused to budge. At another, she haughtily announced that she was going home by herself and she would even cross the road . . . all by herself.

"Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh."

We turned the corner towards home and we could hear our dog, whining. He was pouting at being left home. My daughers got new energy and rode ahead to comfort him.

A neighbor who lives a few houses down from us, called out, "Are all those yours?" meaning kids. I grinned, proudly, and called back, "Yep! They keep me busy!" He grinned back and watched our procession down the sidewalk.

Thank you, Lord, for our family.