This was the best part of the day.
Madison was singing karoke for Pennie and she had to take a bathroom break. Then she peeked her curly little head outside the bathroom door and said the words that Brett and I have come to dread, “Tushie wipe!”
Brett and I always wait to see who she calls before we make a move. We sit, poised on the edge of our chairs and then when she says, “Tushie wipe, Daddy!” I lean back and laugh and he grudgingly gets up to go wipe a tushie or vice versa. But this time, gentle readers, this time was different. This time Madison said, “Tushie wipe, Pennie!”
Ahh, yes! Open adoption has its privileges!!
Madison always says that like she’s conferring a great privilege. It reminds me of when Noah was about Madison’s age (and I’ve blogged this before and he tells this story a lot so you may have heard it). Brett and I took our time heading in after he called. He said, “What took you so long?” and Brett answered, “We were playing rock, paper, scissors to see who was coming in here.” and Noah said, “Oh, so you won, huh?”
Oh those crazy kids with the high self esteem!
I’m totally wiped out from work today and have some more to do tonight so I’m hitting publish and going back to my open word .doc.
I have two kids and a delightfully odd husband, Brett. My children are Noah (born to us in 1997) and Madison (born to her first mom, Pennie, in 2004 and brought to our family through a domestic, open adoption). They are my inspiration and also the reason I don't get more done around here.
I'm a writer and sometimes I get published, which is a nice thing. I write for joy, I write for money and when I'm very lucky, both things happen at the same time. My work appears in national publications including Yoga Journal, Disney's Family.com, Utne, Wondertime, Brain Child and Salon. Currently I am working on a book about my daughter's adoption and seeking representation for the proposal. I also own Smart Cookie Communications with my husband.
abebech
May 12th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
That’s fantastic!
(We play the same game — the waiting one, not rock paper scissors — before answering the call).
Abby
May 12th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Ha! “…a great privilege.” Too funny. And too true.
denisenw5
May 12th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
My four year old son gets completely naked to go to the bathroom. (Number two only.) He then comes to find someone to wipe. Just tonight we were at cheerleading practice for my girls and he came out of the bathroom and announced to the whole room “I went poop, wiped all by myself, and didn’t even take my clothes off!” He was so proud and everyone was cracking up.
kristen
May 12th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I think it’s time I start letting Joe win at rock, paper, scissors after all these years!
deb
May 12th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
And did Pennie let you know how she felt about her elevated, tushie wipe status? Inquiring minds want to know all….
Lilian
May 13th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Oh dear, that’s hilarious!!
I second Deb and her question…