This Little Piggy

"The mundane can become magnificent if we're plugged into each hour and each other."

from "One Month to Live" by Kerry and Chris Shook

This quote made me think of some of the mundane things we parents (especially mothers) go through on a daily basis. They seem so insignificant.....the changing of diapers, the feeding, the kissing of boo-boos, the playing referee, the teaching....all those things that cloud our days and our thinking. These things are hard to get passionate. I mean who gets excited about potty training or washing dirty faces?! I do!! Those are the times that encourage bonding and attachment. Those little things that we do daily because we are good parents. The things that we never get thanked for, the things that we will never get a medal or trophy for....those are the things that really count. But no one notices until they are missing.

Five years ago this June we brought our youngest child into our home. He was three months old, extremely outgoing and totally adorable. After the paperwork had been signed and the social worker was gone, I laid him down on the floor on a blanket to do what I have done with all my babies....count fingers and toes.

He was laughing and cooing so I began to play "this little piggy" with him. I noticed that this attracted an audience of my seven other children. Some just wanted to play with the baby but others looked at me with that "your stupid" look that children have and asked, "What in the world are you doing?"

You see some of my children had never played "this little piggy". They had never heard of it before. When they were babies, no one sang to them, told them nursery rhymes, played "this little piggy" or "peek-a-boo" with them. Those silly little mundane things that we would never think of as important suddenly were hugely important. My kids had missed out on that special kind of attachment that should be a normal part of growing up.

So, right there in my family room my kids, some as old as 10, took off their shoes and we played "this little piggy". I know it sounds strange but it was a very special time of bonding for us. I grabbed those big old smelly feet and looked them in the eye and cooed at them saying, "This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy had roast beef. This little piggy had none. And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home!" And my elementary aged children laughed just as hard as the baby.