Today friends gathered at our house to celebrate Amanda's upcoming transition to motherhood. The gathering was organized by Anna and Sarah (thanks you two!), and was a blend of the traditional baby shower and a twist on the Navajo "Blessingway", which focuses on giving wisdom and strength to a soon-to-be mom.
Many friends sent written blessings, which touched us with their love and wisdom. We wanted to post one of them, which was sent by grandma-to-be Leslie, and is the sort of thing that just ought to be shared.
A Wish for Andre and Amanda's Baby
"Baby Baby Baby! What do I wish for you? The moon? The stars? Lots of people to love you? Health? Luck? Well you have most of those things, and the ones you don't have won't happen by my wishing them for you.
So, I think I will wish for you SOW BUGS. Yes sow bugs.
A child who has sow bugs has back-yards and parks, and dirty places to play in. A child who has sow bugs knows to look under things. This child knows that rocks and boards are homes and gardens. Sow bugs are the colour of soil. It takes an observant child to spot them.
If you have only one sow bug, you have simplicity, and geometry. A single sow bug is a segmented oval with wiggly squiggly legs. If you hold a sow bug on the flat of your hand - you have tickles. A child does well by having tickles.
A sow bug will offer its legs for you to learn to count. A sow bug will offer its stubbornness to you too. It won't go where you want it to go, it won't stay where you want it to stay. This is the gift of learning that there are those who don't want to do things your way, my Little Imp. That happens a lot Dear One.
A sow bug does not need a battery to work.
If you have a colony of sow bugs you have the story of creatures working together, or not working together. These Child, are good things to know.
And, New Little Soul that you are, if you have sow bugs, like I had sow bugs, long after you are new, when you have trod the earth 56 years or so, you will have memories of the smell of the earth, playing alone or with friends, the feel of the sun on a young cheek, and you will have known unexpected treasures in ordinary places."
