Written by Rowonna McNeely – Last Wednesday, I stayed home with a sick Kiera. She had been sick most of the night and part of the morning, but once she took the prescribed medicine the doctor called in, she started slowly feeling better.
For a good part of the morning, she laid on the couch, playing quietly and watching cartoons while I logged in from home and worked, pausing from time to time for the occasional cuddle.
As the afternoon progressed, she began to gain some energy back and played in her playroom. “Mommy, can you come play with me?” She asked.
“Absolutely!” I responded, saving my work. I mean, what is a sick day if you can’t play a little when asked.
I walked into the playroom and glanced around as I sat in the floor. There were several babies at different stations. Two were lying in their beds, one was at the ice cream stand, another was sitting in a chair, and there were several lying in the floor.
As I settled on the floor, Kiera began to go into detail about who each baby was, their age and what they were doing. I wish I could tell you every detail that she spouted off. It was a blur. Names changed, ages changed, one was in trouble, one was getting its diaper changed…Needless to say, Kiera was feeling better.
She pointed at one baby that had a cast on her leg. “This poor baby, she broke her leg.” She explained.
“Ahh…she probably needs more vitamins.” I said.
“Well, you know what? I told the doctor she needed vitamins. He said she didn’t need vitamins.” She continued on indignantly. “I told him, are you a doctor or a robber? She has a broken foot! She’s not sick!”
I’m not sure what kind of look I had on my face, because she followed that outburst with, “I used to be a nurse, so ya.”
After playing for a while, she picked up one of her babies named Lily. Now, Lily was going to be lost. Kiera picked up the roof of her dollhouse and tucked Lily inside, before replacing the roof of the dollhouse. “Pretend you didn’t see that she is in there.” She directed. “Ok. Let’s look for her.”
We walked around the room, alternating calling for Lily. Finally, at one point, Kiera said, “I think we need to call the police and fighterfires. Can you call them?”
Just in case you weren’t clear, fighterfires is what she calls firefighters. We have corrected her repeatedly but she still occasionally calls them fighterfires.
I agreed and pretended to hold a phone and place the call to the proper authorities. “Hello? Yes. We have a missing child.” I pretended to listen to the person on the other end. “Ok. Thank you. We will see you soon.”
“They will be here shortly.” I stated to Kiera.
“Good!” She replied as we continued to check the playroom for the “missing” Lily.
Uncertain how long we were supposed to continue searching, I faked a baby cry.
“Did you hear that?” I asked Kiera.
“Yes!” She responded. “Where did it come from?”
I faked another cry and Kiera went over to the playhouse and pulled the roof back. Surprise, surprise! Lily was in the dollhouse.
“Oh! Shame on you.” She admonished her baby. “You are supposed to stay close to us and you went in there and fell asleep!”
She laid Lily in her bed and asked, “Can I watch cartoons some more?”
Knowing she was tired, I helped her into her Daddy’s recliner and covered her up. After making sure she was comfortable, I sat back down and went back to work.
It was a nice day. We had the windows open, letting the breeze flow through the house. I had been working again for about 15 minutes when Kiera came to stand beside me. She held her blanket in her hand and leaned up against my shoulder while gazing out the window.
“Oh no.” She stated with dread in her voice.
Hitting save, I quickly turned to her. “What is it, baby?” I asked.
She continued to stare out the window and sighed before she said, “Remember we called the police and the fighterfires?”
I followed her gaze and peered out the window while trying not to dislodge her as she leaned on me. “Umm…yes?” I replied while I racked my brain, knowing that I was the one who put in the pretend call for the authorities. From my vantage point, I did not see any flashing lights bouncing off the walls.
She turned and looked back at me. “Well, we forgot to call them and tell them we had found Lily. Can you please explain to them that we forgot to call them back and we found her while I go check on her?” She asked and disappeared into the playroom.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized we were back to pretending. I pretended to welcome the police officers and firefighters and explained the situation. I then thanked them for coming out.
As I finished thanking them, Kiera appeared by my shoulder. She leaned on me again and looked in the direction that I was speaking. “Thank you for coming out.” She said to the pretend group. “It was good to see you too.”
I hid a smile, as she seemed to directly speak to one person in particular. “Ok. I’ll see you soon.” She responded.
Turning to face me, she pointed in the direction of the pretend group. “Do you see that one fighterfire?” She asked.
I glanced in the direction she pointed. “Yes?”
She sighed and snuggled into my arm. “That’s my son.”
Not knowing how else to respond, I replied, “Oh.”
She continued on as if I had not spoken. “Yes. They just grow up so fast.”
I turned my face away so she would not see the grin that appeared on my face.
“Yes, they do, baby. Yes they do.” I said as I hugged her close.
Rowonna McNeely
Graphic Designer - Mommy to Kiera
Rowonna McNeely works with her husband, Aaron, at Willie’s T’s in the Art Department, regularly volunteers in the community, and has her hands full with her daughter, Kiera, along with two dogs and one cat.
Rowonna is a graduate of May High School (Go Tigers!) and grew up on a dairy farm. She enjoys reading, creating, swimming, and planning events. She’s also a bit of a klutz.
