Today's Gratitude List

If I could write a poem--an ode!--I would, but I haven't developed that skill, so I will write a list. I have a lot of practice at composing lists.

I Feel Gratitude for:

• Clean, plentiful, running water
• Indoor plumbing
• Disposable diapers
• A clothes washing machine
• Cleaning supplies
• Disposable latex gloves
• Chlorine bleach and Lysol
• A drug store down the road
• Electrolyte drinks
• Zofran (for whom the inventor should win a Nobel Peace Prize)
• Literacy and education that gives me the tools to "know my enemy" (e.g., read here, here, here, and here): causes 90% of epidemic gastroenteritis around the world, killed only by bleach and possibly Lysol, extremely communicable, incubation of 24-48 hours, continues shedding from seemingly recovered people, lives on surfaces up to 3 weeks, relapses in 60% of cases.
• Health insurance coverage and hospitals available in case of severe dehydration
• A husband who can help and is not traveling at the moment
• Friends to bring us Saltine crackers, chicken soup, and other such goodies
• Being a homemaker so I can seamlessly drop all my other duties to become a nursemaid: these kind of events are not interrupting my life, they are why I have this vocation.

This could be so much worse. Since the Fall brought us things like viruses, weak bodies, and illnesses, then I am grateful to have it so much better than most of humanity on this planet when struck by the same virus. I do not merit being in the blessed situation I find myself in rather than being an impoverished woman in a hut with no running water who is watching my children die from dehydration due to this virus.

I am also grateful for my new Kozy Carrier! It is a mei tei carrier which I've wanted for three babies now and finally treated myself to buying one. The mei tei is one of only two carriers I know of (the other being a woven wrap) that allow a "high back carry" of an infant as young as newborn. Anyone who wears babies often knows how much easier it is to wear a baby on the back than on the front!

I'd still rather use my old faithful Ergo (a mei tei Westernized with straps and clips) for the front carry because it is easier to get on and off. Plus I can unsnap the top straps of the Ergo and leave the short straps hanging, out of my way, while I do a task (e.g., change a diaper and put the baby back in the Ergo). But with a true mei tei, the straps are very long, so if I untie the top straps, I'm tripping over them on the ground.

But look how great it is to have Joseph on my back at only two months old! His head is supported and he is as snug as a bug in a rug. There are detailed instructions for how to get a baby on one's back on the Kozy website. It's not easy (even according to the manufacturer) and I am still climbing the steep learning curve: however, after two days I am already now doing it by myself (without Chris spotting), using only the bed or couch for safety and a mirror to double-check positioning.