I admit I am a total head case. Not gonna lie about it, either.
Here’s what I notice about my recent behavior: I cannot enter any public place that has young kids or babies without my Mama hormones going crazy. Which in turn makes me watch other people’s kids intently, making sure they are safe, having fun, are emotionally OK, and getting regular dental check-ups. In other words, I’ve turned into the kind of old lady I used to glance at out of the corner of my eye, and whisper to my child, “Stay here, honey. Stay close to Mommy, OK?”
I’m 57 – not 27. That’s a little old to be thinking about babies, right? But I completely melt at the sight of them. Obviously it’s a little silly to think about becoming a new mother all over again. Especially since I worked so hard to lose ten lousy pounds this year and can finally see the beginnings of what I fondly used to refer to as my waistline. Yet I can’t seem to turn off the impulse to stare at these little ones, wishing I could hug or hold them for just a moment.
I don’t know how the time slipped away from when I had small children – and it’s so totally corny to say it, but it really does seem like not so long ago that my children were young and now they are all (what is that term? oh, yeah-) grown-ups.
I have grandchildren, but they are about 1000 miles away, and much too old to rock. They are ready to rock in their own way and it involves music and has nothing at all to do with Grandma. Or any other adult. There are no other prospects off babies in sight in our family circle, either.
Not in the traditional sense. Although, sometimes life sends alternate surprises.
Tonight I talked with my middle child. She is a teacher in New York and spends her days with preschoolers, and even so, has the youthful exuberance of someday wanting children of her own. Meanwhile, she seems to have lots of sweet little friends wherever she lives, and has two cats, both potty-trained. Really. She also has lots of adventures, and one of her more tame plans is coming home to Maine to visit us for a while later in August.
But today, on her way back from a weekend camp-out and rafting trip down the Delaware River with her Dad and some friends, she passed by a different kind of sale held in a parking lot somewhere near a Walmart in Pennsylvania.
And this, my friends, is what she bought on sale and will be bringing to Maine when she visits: 
So – there is a new baby in the family after all. A cuddly four-month-old to love, wrapped in cuddles and transferred from a shelter.
Meet Milo.
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