And now the three of us
We've been three for a long time. Goldie and Mog and I, and now Little Fish and Mog and myself. Three works; two children and myself and I've a hand for each chair, an arm for each cuddle, a knee for each to rock on. When Little Fish first moved in, Mog was unimpressed with the idea of a new little sister, someone smaller and therefore potentially cuter and definitely getting a lot of attention. Little Fish meanwhile was small and sad and unsure about this new family which didn't have the bouncing boys she was used to. I used to sit with one girl on each knee, each facing away from the other, and lean down to sing in two ears at once, three heads in a row and all gaining comfort from each other.
It didn't take long; Little Fish took to the others and even before she had a wheelchair of her own, long before she could talk, she was demanding to be put down between Mog and Goldie, wanting to feed Mog and to tickle Goldie, needing to help read stories and generally be needed. The three girls were together here for around six months, if we count the introductory period. Mog and Goldie sisters already; they made space in their relationship for this new little person, sometimes laughing at her antics, sometimes annoyed, but soon noticing her presence and welcoming it. And Little Fish took to her sisters too, wanting the three girls to be together whenever possible. When Goldie moved out, Little Fish fretted to see her just as much as Mog did, and now nearly two years later she still talks about Goldie, still remembers her.
Three children and two hands is interesting; whether it's my three girls, or the two girls and the Wahooligan, or any other child who might turn up. Life gets interesting, which is just as we like it, but it definitely gets more complicated too. I'll stick with the three of us for now.
Although I would just like to point out that our new bus has space for three wheelchairs, thus neatly removing one of the bigger complexities of having three children. That spare slot surely won't be unused forever...
Tia
2 comments:
Lovely , touching post.
As a foster mom, we totally get when a child moves on. We are a family of 7, who used to at Christmas time be a family of 9.
Lisa
Tia - beautiful post, beautiful photos although I think you may have inadvertently told us Little Fish's name in the filename of one of those pics...
The other big thing about that third space is that you have room for a friend. Which is always good. I managed (just!) to fit, as well as myself and my ginormous chair, two (grownup) friends and their (grownup sized) powerchairs in my van - one travelling in-chair, one not. Didn't know van could manage that. Brilliant!
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