...........one diaper at a time
Bill White has some good things to say about the sanctifying work of parenthood, especially at the times when it is the most aesthetically repugnant. (Reading his piece brought back many memories. Sweet might not be the word. But they’re etched on my mind and heart just the same. Like the time I had at least two little ones in bed with me. During the early morning hours they became ill along all points of the digestive tract, but not so ill that they woke me up with loud complaints. So I had a general waking that led to the sensation that something was not quite right in the bed, sort of like the scene in The Godfather where movie mogul Jack Woltz wakes up to find a horse head in his bed. Only mothers of sick children cannot scream at the top of their lungs - as much as they would like to - but must confine themselves to a few “dear, dears,” and “oh, you poor babies.”)

This also reminds me of a fabulous (and unfortunately out-of-print) book by the late Catholic maternal humorist author Theresa Bloomingdale. In I Should Have Seen it Coming When the Rabbit Died, she talks about the rich opportunities that parenthood provides for carrying out the corporal works of mercy: for instance, feeding the poor can included nursing the baby, making stacks of PB&J sandwiches, baking birthday cakes...........clothing the naked can run the gamut from baby’s diapers to sports uniforms right up to a bride’s gown. This is such a funny book, but one that can wring a few tears from me, too. I was hoping to catch it when the inevitable discard came up, and I missed it. AAARRGH. And after all those years I kept checking it out every once in a while, just to keep it in circulation.