One of my daughters sits for the cutest two boys you could ever love. She has been adopted into their family over the years. Although her name is Liz, the entire family has come to call her Yiz. Even the aunts and uncles say,"So, Hi Yiz. How ya' doing?"
The boys are now 3 and 5. Perfect. Great year for all grades of trouble.
She is very special to the boys as she is the Mary Poppins in their lives. She is the dream sitter they will adore until she retires into a rest home. No one can hold a candle to her. Even the nannies they are enjoying pale in comparison. She comes to visit on college breaks.
Over Thanksgiving, she missed seeing them. She had to get back to school and they were en route from their holiday away with family. They called on her cell. I can't change the names here because it just isn't the same, so I hope the family will forgive me. or enjoy the tale.
Her cell rang. She answered. Wyatt (5)said something like, " Hi Yiz."
" Hi Wyatt. What are you doing?"
" We're riding in the car coming home."
" Oh, I'm riding in the car, too."
" Are you coming to see us?"
" Well, I really wanted to, but I have to go back to school now."
muffled noises take over, voices shift. Enter Charlie (3)
"Yiz. Wheh ah you?"
" Who is this?"
" Dis is Chah-wee. Are you comin'?"
" Charlie, I'm going back to school. I'm driving now just like you are. I'll be back for Christmas, though so I will come see you then, okay?"
Charlie holds the phone away from his ear and says to the carload of people he is riding with, " She's not here!!" then... "Click"
She called me later to tell me that she had just been hung -up on by a 3 year old.
The make up plan was the promise of having both boys over to Yiz's house for dinner. Charlie and Wyatt got to make the menu. Although the date is still in limbo, the menu is set in stone. Spongebob macaroni and cheese, with Spongebob macaroni and cheese as the appetizer and dessert, and vegetable. That will be a fun dinner, boy howdy.
In the meantime, the days go by......
It is now Christmas time. She decides to visit her boys. The nannie greets her with, "Hi, Yiz". ( We think the nannies think her name is actually Yiz)
The boys are decorating the tree, Charlie is putting the baby Jesus ornament he made in preschool on a branch, no- this branch, no- this branch, no- THIS branch... etc... he looks as if the perfect branch for his baby Jesus is way up near the top, a place that would most definitely require climbing.
Liz looks around the room at the decorations. Lots of lights, wreaths, other holiday items, and of course the manger. Except, something is missing. Something isn't right.
"Yiz!" her little friends demand her full attention.
" Yes, Charlie, I see your ornament. You made that? Wow!"
The nannie speaks with a reprimanding tone." So Charlie, tell Yiz what happened to the baby Jesus in the manger."
Charlie keeps moving his ornament about, fully engrossed, and fully ignoring the question.
"He got fwushed down the toilet."
Liz glances over at the glass manger scene and notices the loving gazes of Mary and Joseph falling onto an empty cradle.
"What happened, Charlie?"
The nannie continued. " Charlie went to the bathroom and then I heard him say, 'Uh Oh, Baby Jesus is flushed down the toilet'. She explained that he came out of the bathroom shrugging his shoulders and holding both of his dripping wet hands up in that " I don't know, beaths me, sister," posture.
Liz looked at Charlie with love and her usual warmth. " Gosh, so now there's nobody for Mary and Joseph to look at and no one for the Wise Men to come see. That makes me sad in my heart, Charlie."
Charlie looked at her with his big beautiful eyes and said, "yeah" then he moved his ornament again, and then once again.
Maybe they should turn the wisemen so their gazes fall towards the bathroom, and maybe they can put Mary and Joseph in there somewhere.
What does it really mean when the baby Jesus gets flushed? It probably means that 3 year olds are still 3 year olds are still delightfully delicious 3 year olds. and 5 year olds along with them make a nice mix.
4 comments:
ah how precious. i used to baby sit for several couples and now the kids are all "grown" up and i feel so old that they are out of the house and such. but this story is so great.
Okay, this is great, and it just got filed into the future sermon folder. The story is too good to not use. Sometime during Advent this year I'll work a scripture around it.
This reminds me of my own "brood" too. I still get a pic. of their family every Christmas. They are all adults and have families of their own. According to their mom, my name continues to crop up, now even more so as they have their own babysitters! What great memories Liz will have. And oh there is nothing sweeter than to be adored by a 3 year old!!
Oh, I wish Yiz would come to my house!
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