Bonds

A while ago I had opportunity to have some good one-on-one time with the bub. His mom went in to early labor again after one visit to the hospital. My wife and daughter had to attend a wedding reception and my son had to take his wife to the hospital for attention.

That left me.

I haven't soloed with an infant for quite a while.

Bad diaper rash complicated the issue, too.

The student ward held a cook-out/pot-luck in the complex courtyard as I changed the first diaper. Bub's wailed his torment and displeasure. Unfortunately, I forgot to apply the white zinc oxide ointment between diapers, so I had to take the diaper off again and renew his cries.

Eventually the Relief Society President knocked on the door to "inquire about my daughter-in-law". I gave her the no-news update and volunteered that Bubs was suffering from a bad case of diaper rash, before I shut the door and settled down on the couch with him sprawled across my chest.

Having him fall asleep in my arms brought back peaceful memories of competent parenting. Those memories went a long way to dispel the insecure anxiety I'd felt at the beginning of the evening.

Thankfully, memories of pain and discomfort fade rapidly.

The next day we visited again for some reason. The Bubs came right to me, all smiles. He even crawled, crying, towards the door when we had to leave.

He won't remember the details of the ties that have begun to bind our lives, but I certainly will.