Dirt

Dear Sprout,

Yesterday, our floor was cleaner than it has ever been. I swept and swept and swept. You see, you are going to be here soon and I so want everything to be perfect for you. In fact, when your dad got home, the first thing that came to his mind was how clean our floor was -- and I didn't even prompt him with, "What do you think about our floor?" I smiled as I looked at the straw-colored bamboo planks. I thought I was well on my way to becoming the next Donna Reed.

This morning I woke up and I looked at our floors. The dirt had returned. The culprit -- your four-legged sister, Shimmer. You see, Shimmer is a poodle; While she does not shed, her hair serves as a sponge that picks up and carries dirt into our house. (Side note: your sister has an appointment to be shaved tomorrow at precisely 3:00 pm). Oh well. I picked up the broom and swept once more.

Not long ago, I was very discouraged about our issue with dirt. I would get home from a long day at school, and the last thing I wanted to do was to sweep our floors. To be honest, many times I felt a bit overwhelmed. I told your daddy that I no longer wanted Shimmer. How was a supposed to have my little boy live in a house that had dirt on the floor? Fortunately, by this point, your daddy had grown accustomed to my neurotic pregnancy notions. Calmly, he reminded me how much I love Shimmer and how much she loves me. He told me that she requires us to work a little harder, but she brings us such happiness that she is worth extra effort. Then he said, "Anna, you do know that we are having a little boy. Do you know what our little boy will do? He will track dirt into our house, too." Up until that point, I had not thought about this obvious truth.

Sprout, your mommy promises to let you get dirty. In fact, I will let you play in dirt. You can dig for rolly pollies and worms. I pledge that I will delight in the mud pies that you will make just for me. You might even decide to satisfy your natural curiosity to see what dirt tastes like -- and I will try my best to refrain from freaking out and scrubbing your tiny tongue. When you are done getting soil under your finger nails and behind your ears, you will enter our house and leave a trail of dirt. Yes, letting you get dirty will mean extra cleaning for me, but it will be well worth it. Your daddy and I know that you will change our lives in a big way. We know that we will have more responsibilities than ever before and that we will have to work a bit harder as well. However, we will not mind one bit. We will let you be a little boy and we will encourage you to play, explore, and create -- even when it involves dirt. After all, that's why we have a broom!

Here's to you and to the dirt that will bring you such joy!

Love always,

Mommy