While far from infirm, when I got down on the floor recently to play with a baby fascinated by reading glasses, the acrobatics involved with arising were not graceful. The creaking sounds my joints made were kind of shocking too.
I had been invited to a play date, and even I was a little surprised to find myself there. One of the mommies has a 17-month-old and the other mommy has a 2-month-old. In terms of mathematics and life span, I could have been the granny, although in today’s world of fertility I suppose I could have been a toddler mommy too. Instead, I was a relaxed guest enjoying the babies and offering reassurances to the mommies.
I had fun. It was probably the first play date I attended where I was in the moment and feeling calm.
When I was the mommy of little people, I felt stressed a lot of the time. I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing — and I did not — and that the others around did know. They did not.
“Comparison is the thief of joy,” said Theodore Roosevelt or someone else, and while I am sure he could not have been thinking of my maternal feelings of inadequacy, his statement is universal. To me, the other moms looked competent and had perfect children.
We coaxed some smiles from the 2-month old and enjoyed the 17-month-old’s giggly laughter. My own children, now in their early 20s, are 15 months apart, so being with these two little ones helped me understand why I was tired a lot, why I was stressed about long trans-Pacific and trans-Continental flights — I had them in Thailand — and why I can’t seem to remember too much about that period of time.
People would always stop me and tell me to enjoy every moment. I would roll my eyes. My journey then was about the destination not the ride. Now, a little too late, I know that there is joy in the journey, tired or not. I enjoyed my young friends’ young children, and kept my unsolicited opinions to myself. May I do that when I am indeed a granny.
Chicago’s western suburbs are such an ideal place to have children with much to do in relative safety. The Easter egg hunts in Clarendon Hills and Hinsdale are actually right around Easter this year instead of the weekend before. The annual Clarendon Hills Park District one set for Good Friday, April 14, with staggered times for egg hunters based on their age. Visit www.clarendonhillsparkdistrict.org for more information.
The Hinsdale Breakfast with the Easter Bunny followed by the annual Easter Egg hunt will be held on Saturday, April 15. Visit www.thecommunityhouse.org for more information.
Financial planning for those who have children with disabilities will be the topic of a Hinsdale Central Parent-Teacher Organization Parent Network program at 7 p.m. April 6. Attorney Theresa Varnet will discuss such topics as special needs trusts, government benefits based on financial, government benefit that are not based on financial needs and estate planning. Besides numerous professional qualifications, she is the parent of an adult child with disabilities and has been an advocate for the disabled for many years. For more information, email parentnetwork@hcpto.org or go to www.hcpto.org/parent-network.
Last week, I wrote about the wonderful work Hinsdale illustrator and artist Darcy Day Zoells creates and portrays. Some 26 pieces of her art are on display in the Hinsdale Public Library’s quiet reading room, and the Meet the Artist reception will be from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, April 6. The date may not have been clear in my column last week. I also learned that Zoells recently found an agent to represent her, which is a critical step in the process of being published whether writer or illustrator or both, so expect to see more of her work.
On Saturday, April 8, the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale, 17 W. Maple St., Hinsdale, will holds its first-ever Spring Thing fundraiser and fun raiser. No one told me that the Spring Fling is a fun and a friend raiser, but ticket prices are $25 a person in advance for Unitarian Church of Hinsdale members and only $15 in advance for nonmembers. That is very creative and welcoming I think.
The event is an evening family affair running from 5 to 9 p.m. with adult activities — silent auction, band and so on — as well as kid activities. For more information, go to www.hinsdaleunitarian.org/new/springthing. or call 630-323-3885.
