THE RETURN OF THE RUG RATS

Last night my son came for the things he had left behind here, and with him were his lady and my 3 Rug rats. The boys tumbled up the stairs, ran noisily down the long hallway and Bali jumped into my open, welcoming arms. Could my heart have sung louder or sweeter, I wonder? Feeling those chubby little arms around my neck again felt so right! When the hugging was over, the lads spread out, looking for their familiar and favorite places, except....

“No, Nalou. Upstairs is not allowed; Helen lives there now.” My oldest Rug rat stared at me, his eyes wide with concern. The other two, suddenly silent, turned to look at me. Even their parents stood waiting, saying nothing. Nalou asked the question they were all pondering, without a doubt.

"But where are we going to sleep when we come?”

Ummm – okay Mémere. Some fast thinking is needed here.

In the midst of the disagreement, and even after the ‘mending bridge’ discussion with my DIL, I had made the decision that there would be no more babysitting on my part. It was over. Done. Whenever I would see the boys it would be with their parents. I would no longer be used.

Seeing the worried expressions on these three little faces chased that notion right out the window.

“In the living room!” I capitulated. “We’ll put up some blankets and make a huge tent. There’s lots of couches and we can use the sleeping bags and pillows!” The sighs of relief were not audible, but I heard them anyway. My Rug rats grinned with delight.

“And you’re going to sleep with us!’ exclaimed Bali, his big, blue eyes dancing.

“Yep! But I warn you – Mémère snores. Really loud!! You might kick me outta there before the night’s over.”

"Really loud?” he asked.

“The loudest in the world,” I nodded. He considered it for a moment.

“No,” he answered. “Hulk snores the loudest in the world. He snores louder than you.”

“Hmmmm – I don’t think so.” I said. “Anyway, we’ll know when it happens. Then we’ll see who the loudest-snorer-winner is, me or the Hulk.”

“Okay!” He grinned. “But we won’t kick you out.”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Sure!” he yelled it, as lads do when they’re excited, then raced off to re-explore the house which had been his home for a short time.

We adults sat to have coffee, and within minutes Tao, my 3 year old baby, sidled over to me, then manoeuvred his way onto my lap. The rest of the visit was spent with his face nestled into my shoulder and me rocking him back and forth as we chatted over his head. Was Mémère happy, do you think?

The visit was short; it was close to bedtime. Kisses and hugs and high fives were distributed as my Rug rats said goodbye, then they took the stairs going down as fast as they had coming up. Just as noisily too!

I came out onto the gallery to wave, and there they were – the 3 of them, standing at the corner of the house peeing, with Bali taking aim for his brothers’ shoes. When my son gave up and joined them, I thought how some things never change.

My family is whole again. My SMILE was one of amusement, and oh so grateful!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.