Why I Love Watching Emily

I never thought about friends of mine having kids when I was younger.  You know, it was just such a strange thing.  But then, when I was 18 and Dolly was 17, she got pregnant with Bobby, and through the years, I know of other people I’ve gone to school with who’ve had kids, gotten married, or both, but except for Dolly, they were never people close to me.  And even with Dolly, we went through things back then and I actually didn’t see her for a good six years, until she married Zeb, and I didn’t meet Bobby until he was already almost six.

I admit, I always thought Dolly and I would find our true loves at about the same time, get married in a gorgeous double wedding, have kids about the same time (both girls, of course,) and they’d grow up best friends, just like we did and are.  And of course, we’d live in the same area.

Yeah, that so hasn’t happened.  Any of it.  Heh.

But I didn’t come to do a pity party on my lack of relationship luck.  Melanie’s someone else who found her true love, got married in an awesome wedding, and has had a daughter, and I feel fortunate enough to have been there through all that.

After the hurricane, I volunteered to watch Emily for Melanie to make things easier on all of them.  It got Emily out of their hair for awhile and gave her something else to focus on besides a hotel room she was sharing with both her parents and on set of grandparents, and it meant that Melanie and the rest of them could do things they needed to take care of without a moody (understandably, but still,) toddler underfoot.

And for me, Emily’s always been well-behaved, happy, and loves going to parks, or wherever there’s water.

While I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I actually want kids, the fact is, my biological clock is ticking.  The reality is that I don’t actually have that many years left of safe, child-bearing age.  So, part of why I love watching Emmie is it gives me that ‘mommy’ feeling without actually having the full-time, sleepless nights, temper-tantrum-ing responsibility of having a kid.

I love watching Emmie because (and I find it hilarious how this is something that mystifies Melanie and Marie,) she’s always so good for me.  She rarely ever cries or doesn’t listen.  In fact, the only time she really cries is if she wakes up from a nap and it’s me there instead of Melanie.  Then, I get a few tears, and cries of "Momma!" but she calms down pretty quick.

And I love that I can give Melanie and Marie a break during the day.  Even if it’s just once a week, they know Emmie’s having a good time, and that they have time to get chores done, or for Melanie to catch a nap, or whatever it is.

I know I don’t see Emmie during the times when she’s misbehaving, or being a terror, or whatever.  In a way, I’m glad, but I’d handle it even if I did see it.  I dealt with my cousin being a terror, and Hell, I used to call him Little Monster.

But yeah, it may be half-selfish, you know, getting the false, temporary sense of being a mom, but the other half is so I can make things easier, for however short an amount of time, for Melanie and the rest of them.