Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Bye Bubbles. Thanks.

So tomorrow starts second grade for my two oldest and the day after they turn seven.  My blog title really is obsolete.  Soon I won't even be Mom to 7 under 7!  Where did this summer go? In fact, where does the time go? It is a question I've asked myself frequently this week and especially today - the 21st anniversary of the passing of my Grandma.

It is also the end of summer  2011- a bookend of sorts for an amazing few months.  Summer is a great time - this summer especially with our baby Monica bringing great joy to the house.  Summer is also a tough time - practically speaking, every night has to be bath night! Don't get me wrong, we bathe the children regularly - but usually in shower mode.  Sarah and Joseph, our two eldest have been able to independently shower for more that a year.  Mostly out of necessity and somewhat out of conservation - you can shower and use less water much more quickly that a full tub bath.  But for the young ones, a tub 'bubbly bath' is de riguer for the summer. 
The chance to break out rubber ducks and boats and swim through a sea of Mr Bubble is somehow like heaven to our kids. There just isn't a way to keep ahead of the sweat, sand, dust and fun they have each day.  The bathtime shuffle becomes the evening routine in the summer. In fact, my favorite sentence that Simon, now 2 years and 5 months has coined this summer? At the close of every bath, where he watches every drop of water go down the drain, he offers a thanks to the bubbles.  "Bye bubbles.... thanks!"


So Simon's reminder last night was still ringing in my ears as I sat at mass this morning, praying for Grandmother's soul and remembering the graces I received in being at her side when she passed. I thought of the many times I'd had sleep overs at her apartment in the Bronx - starting the evening in a bathtub filled with Ivory soap, how she would rinse my hair squeaky clean, blow air between my toes ("You could get a harribble fungus, doncha know" she'd tell me in her Sligo brogue)
and cover me in powder before donning my pj's and serving open faced turkey sandwiches with generous slices of cranberry jelly that we'd eat on card tables in her living room while watching TV.  I was reminded how swiftly time passes, as she's now been gone from this earth two years longer than I knew her. She was a grandma to me and my 3 siblings as well as 9 cousins.  We were quite the brood circa 1980. (I 'll leave the reader to guess which one is me!)

But summer bubble baths also make me grateful for what God has given me this summer - many precious moments with my own family (now 8 strong including husband Mark) and my family of birth along with neices, nephews and brothers in law.  Seeing how much they all enjoy one another's company was one of the best memories of the summer. My grandma always used to say "It sure didn't take long to sleep all night" and as a mom of so many little ones I can attest to that being true. But I realized today that it doesn't take long for a generation to grow up either.  And all this reflection because of the last bubble bath of the summer. Amazing what God uses to make us think of Him

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