The Kind of Conversation I Have
On December 1, 2005 | 6 Comments | Uncategorized |

Emma: Mom?

Me: Yes?

Silence.

Me: Yes? (with modified inflection, implying that I am waiting)

Pause.

Emma: Mom.

Me: Yes?

Emma: Mom?

Me: Yes, Emma Grace, what is it?

(And here you must understand that as soon as her voice broke over my hearing, my thoughts were suspended, waiting for what was coming. Who knows what I had been doing– washing dishes, folding laundry, making a bed, writing (imagine!) something in my blog– while thinking My Own Thoughts. There is much to mull, sort or consider in the busy moments of my day, and if I am not immediately engaged with the children, then you can be sure my brain is busy with something else, and this something else will likely be of some interest to me. But as soon as her little mouth spoke my name, all of my thinking seized and turned to Waiting.)

Emma: Mom?

Me: Yes, Emma Grace. Yes. What is it?

Emma: Mom, can I have a piece of gum?

Me: I don’t think we have any more, Sweetheart.

Emma: Can I have a piece of bubble gum?

Me: We don’t have any more gum, Darlin’.

Emma: Do we have any bubble gum?

Me: No.

Emma: Can I have a piece of mint? How about mint gum?

Me: We don’t have any more gum, Emma.

Emma: How about the mint kind?

Me: No. We don’t have any.

Emma: How about mint?

Now I stop what I am doing and look at her where she stands watching me, leaning against the corner of the refrigerator.

Me: Emma Grace, we don’t have any more gum.

Yes. That is the kind of conversation I have. But then, also, I have the following kind:

Emma: Mom?

Me: Yes?

Emma: Mom.

Me: Yes, Emma Grace.

Emma: Mom?

Me: Yes.

Emma: I love you.

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Comments 6
Lynne Posted December 1, 2005 at1:28 pm   Reply

It is so precious and exasperating, isn’t it? I love that you have it recorded… it will be even more precious as the years go by!
Anonymous Posted December 2, 2005 at3:50 am   Reply

The kind of conversations <>I<> have:(pad pad pad pad pad) Meow?Me: What now?[Louder] MEOW?Me: What do you want?[Still louder] MEOW!?!Me: Ok, Ok, I’ll go turn the faucet on in the bathroom so you can have a drink. Sheesh! No need to yell… [A few minutes later]: (pad pad pad pad pad) Meow.Me: Ok, I’ll turn the water off in a second. Just let me finish this (random thing I’m doing at the moment)…———This happens nearly every day – at least she reminds me when she’s done. She also feels like she has to yell at me every time I talk on the phone, which granted, isn’t often. Can’t tell if it’s because she’s jealous, or because she thinks I’m talking to her. She also meows if I sing. Again, is she joining in, or telling me to stop? The fiendish, frenzied feline mind…
Anonymous Posted December 3, 2005 at12:54 am   Reply

I delighted in reading this! (I was going to write, “I was so happy to read this, but I didn’t want to be accused of passivity.) As the mother of another four year-old girl, the gum, mint, and love scenes resonate with me. What a wonderful juxtaposition!
Rebecca Posted December 3, 2005 at5:04 am   Reply

Lynne and Anonymous (2), Thank you for claiming identification with this scene. After posting it, I thought perhaps my readers might not find it believable. And yet it is precisely what happens. The gum conversation, in fact, just occurred the other day, Really and Truly. The latter conversation, the one about loving me, happens at least once a day, every day, and I love it.Anonymous (1), I know you, if only because of your wonderfully alliterative closer. Sounds like a maddening cat you have there…. Mine is equally maddening, but I let the children cater to most of her whims, which helps…. She loves to remind me that she was my first baby.
Lynne Posted December 7, 2005 at4:36 am   Reply

Rebecca,
Lynne Posted December 7, 2005 at4:38 am   Reply

Sorry about that false start. I wanted to tell you that I read this conversation about the gum to my children and they found it hilariously funny. They now repeat it among themselves several times a day for their own amusement. Perhaps it is funny to them because they can so easily identify with it!

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