Murphy's Law
Through the rainy night
To a place behind the raindrops
Where the stars are bright
You may not find gold or silver
But a richer prize
Waits for you behind the raindrops
If you close your eyes"
- I'll Take You Dreaming, sung by Danny Kaye
For months my friends Miguel and Desi were planning a mission trip with a team of 12 people coming from Holland. Part of this trip included going to the coast for a week to help with earthquake relief. Desi asked if I'd go as a leader and translator; however, the week they were going was one in which I had to give three Orientations (which is when a short-term team visits Casa Gabriel and I give a presentation about that ministry and Casa Adalia). There was no one to take my place, so sadly, I wasn't able to go. Instead, Desi asked if I'd consider watching their nearly one-year-old son, Sael, during that week. I've spent enough time with the family to nearly be an aunt to their kids. So, I said yes.
For the most part, it was a smooth week. Yes, Sael was sick and I took him to the doctor and had to give him medicine every day. Yes, he gave me his cold. He woke up every night around 2:00 or 3:00 am to eat, and again around 5:30 or 6:30. But overall he was happy, he was incredibly sweet, letting me soothe him fairly easily. My biggest concern was that he'd want nothing to do with me: he'd cry for his parents, inconsolable, pushing me away. Instead, I learned that he loved to look outside, so if he was crying all I had to do was take him to a window, cradle him with his head resting on my chest, and he'd quickly calm, letting me feed or rock him. However there was one day which seemed to be a comedy of errors ...
In catching Sael's cold (my second one in three weeks), I completely lost my voice. I could only whisper. Ironically, of course, I had the three Orientations to give. The morning I woke up with no voice, I scrambled to type up a synopsis of my memorized talk, so the team leaders could read it in my place. I got Sael and myself there before 8:00 to set up the videos, prayer cards, and EsperanzArt jewelry for sale, ready when the team arrived at 8:30. I stood in the back of the room holding Sael, feeding him apple slices and answering questions in a whispered rasp. Overall it went well, but by the time everyone had left at 10:00, Sael was more than ready for a nap. He started to melt down while I scrambled to put away the jewelry and lock the money in the office. He fell asleep on the way home. I stood in my doorway, twisting around until I could extract my keys from my purse which was strung from the arm holding Sael. I made it inside, laid him down ... and he woke up immediately, not to be comforted.
I carried him into the kitchen to make him a bottle. Of course the can of formula was nearly empty, and as I opened a new one, the metal peel-away top sliced open my finger. I paused for a second, then continued to make the bottle with my right hand while carrying him in my left arm and holding my bleeding hand aloft. Bottle made, I wrapped a tissue around my finger and sat down to feed crying Sael. He relaxed and so did I. I expected him to just drink a couple of ounces before falling asleep. When I realized he had nearly finished the whole bottle, I thought, 'He must really have been hungry!'
That was when he sat up and puked everywhere.
For a moment, I simply held him in stunned confusion. "Oh Sael," I finally sighed. I left the puddle of puke and took him to the bathroom to clean him up. I changed his clothes and commenced rocking him back and forth. He calmly stared at the ceiling as though it were the most fascinating thing ever, then looked at me. I smiled back, wishing I could sing to him, yet unable to do anything but walk and rock. Finally, finally, his eyes closed and I laid him down without incident. I washed and bandaged my finger. I cleaned up the puke with a towel. I stripped off my clothes and threw everything into the washing machine. I re-dressed.
When he woke up, the day commenced more as less as "normal". Him: playing, eating, second-napping. Me: feeding, rocking, cooking, cleaning. I love to have music playing in the background, and that week it was all about upbeat music. The Beatles, David Bowie, Cage The Elephant, Gallant, Fitz And The Tantrums, and soundtrack compilations such as "Guardians Of The Galaxy", "Stranger Than Fiction", "The Martian", "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty" and "500 Days Of Summer" comprised our playlist. There were other ups and downs of course. Nothing quite like that one day of blood, puke and tears ... thankfully. He is a darling, beautiful baby boy and I was honored to watch him. Many more tears would come later, on a related note. Yet that's a story in process for next week.
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