“I don’t wait for my sister to ask before I take her baby.
Oops. That kinda sounds like kidnapping. Allow me to explain.
When I visit my sister and I get to hold my precious nephew (who smells like an angel who was just feathered with some sorta heavenly angel dust), I tell her I’m taking him to the bedroom, turning on my favorite show, and he is mine for the next hour or two.
I’ll change any diapers during that time. I’ll change his clothes once it’s soaked in drool. I’ll feed him his bottle once he gets hungry. She knows she has an hour or two, I’m in no hurry, and she has time to do as she pleases.
Eat. Vacuum. Shower. Dust. Nap. Catch up on her favorite crime documentary.
However she chooses to spend that time is completely up to her. It’s HER time. I don’t question it, and I certainly don’t judge it. Only she knows what her body and her heart need during that time, and I want her to honor just that.
Me, her, and him? We all come out of that hour feeling incredible. It’s a beautiful pause from the world for all three of us.
You see, if I waited for her to ask, it wouldn’t happen. Guilt. Shame. Feelings of ‘I should be able to do it all’ would most definitely take center stage.
Long story short, she would never ask.
She, like all other mothers, would instead wait for the burnout to set in, as oddly enough that feels more natural to current-day motherhood than asking for help does.