If I would be taking care of these precious little boys for the next two weeks, some things were going to have to change

Ma/Hindy

Iwas Pesach cleaning the guest room when Chavi called.

“The kids are so excited, Ma,” she chirped. “What time do you want us all over?”

Kids. Right. Purim seudah. I looked at the Windex and shmattehs and stifled a laugh.

“I’ll let you know about that, okay?”

“Any news from Kayla?” she asked. Kayla, the only one of my children to live out of town, was due just after Purim. There was no news yet, but as soon as there was, I would be on the next plane.

“Not yet,” I told Chavi. “Don’t worry, you’ll hear when there is.”

“Well, let’s hope she makes it till after Purim. You wouldn’t want to miss your own seudah!”

I shrugged. “All of you moved in after birth. Kayla needs the help just as much – even more, since she’s by herself there.”

Especially, I thought after hanging up the phone, since this would be Kayla’s fourth – and her three little boys were a handful, to say the least. I’d moved in for a couple of weeks after the last two as well, but this time I couldn’t imagine how she’d manage at all without help. Besides, the timing – shortly before Pesach – was a hectic time for everyone. Which was why I was getting ahead of the game this year, trying to clean the upstairs and the basement even before Purim. Hopefully I could spend two weeks with Kayla after the baby, and still get back in time to clean and turn over downstairs, and cook for Yom Tov.

I got lucky with the timing. The Purim seudah was beautiful, and I had one day to clean up and sort out the debris of mishloach monos, cellophane wrapping, and costume components that got detached from their rightful place during the fun. Late at night on Shushan Purim, I got a text from Kayla: It’s a girl!

The next morning, I was on the plane.

*

A girl!

Pink and white, bows and ribbons, little shoes and heart-shaped cookies... and of course, for Kayla it was even more exciting. The first girl after three boys! She would be a real princess.

And then three was the name. My mother passed away nearly two years ago, and typically, we had had three grandsons in the interim – and this was the first girl. Kayla had been close with her Bubby, and I had no doubt that they would be naming the baby after her.

I spent the plane ride in a happy daze of Kiddush ideas, color schemes and flower arrangements and centrepieces... this was going to be one special simchah.

Still, travelling gets tiring. I arrived at Kayla’s house to find it in disarray: she’d clearly not had a chance to clean up after Purim. The kids were in school, Baruch rushing out with shirt half-untucked. I headed for the guest room to put down my bags. I could put the house in order, or go visit Kayla, or have a quick rest before the real action began.

I sat down for a moment, and the wave of exhaustion that hit decided things for me. A couple of hours’ sleep would make all the difference later on, when I needed the energy.

And boy, did I need the energy. Yanky, Shmuli, and Eli arrived home in a wild burst of noise and mess, tossing backpacks and heading straight for the cookie jar.

“Boys, be good with Bubby,” Baruch called after them. “I’m going to the hospital now, Mommy and the baby are coming home later!”

The door slammed. Two-year-old Eli started to cry. Yanky and Shmuli were fighting over some toy. Someone spilled apple juice on the carpet.

“Eli, come here, sweetie,” I said. He looked at me suspiciously and cried even louder. That’s what happens when grandchildren live so far away.

“Shmuli, Yanky, first we’ll eat supper, then later you can have a cookie. Let’s sit down to eat.”

The boys were still stuffing chocolate-chip garbage in their mouths. I winced. I knew Kayla was a relaxed parent, but this was really undisciplined.

“Let’s pick up our knapsacks and hang them on the hooks,” I said loudly, in best kindergarten-Morah voice.

“Mommy does that,” Yanky informed me, taking another cookie.

Well.

“And when Bubby’s in charge, the kinderlach hang up their knapsacks,” I told the boys brightly. “And then we sit down at the table to eat supper.”

If I would be taking care of these precious little boys for the next two weeks, some things were going to have to change.