child care

Three times I have held this moment. A baby in my arms, round-cheeked and solemn-eyed, stretching out his chubby hand towards an ice-cold window, swirls of first snow gusting just beyond the glass. Three times I have watched. Pudgy fingers smudging up against the pane, leaving a breath of fogged fingerprints behind. Brow furrowing, steady eyes silently wondering what is this? Cold and hard are not the usual domain of babies, the newest ones whose softest skin we wrap in fleece blankets and cuddle with feathery kisses. Three times I have felt this sacred hush. What it means to introduce a child to the world outside, a world which can be hard and cold and harsh and cruel. A fleeting foretaste while still safe in mother's arms of what it will mean for them to brave the beyond. Three times I have welcomed this same invitation. To remember that what is hard can also be holy. The book is here. The hard part should be over. The dreaming and the writing and the editing and the … [Read more...] about the hard and the holy