Mother Hen- Ava daughter of Christian
“DIS! DIS! Mmhmmm…Mmhmm. Was dis?!”
So begins another routine stair sweep by Ava, aka “Mother Hen”. As we ascend the stairs leading to the her bedroom with her fellow twin Isaac, she combs the stairs a step at a time picking up small specks of dust and debris with her little fingers, each time turning to show me her latest find.
This procedure is taking forever.
Do you know how much dirt and garbage gets left behind on our stairs with four kids? It’s like a Dirt Devil exploded everywhere, with a mixture of food and little nik nacks. I dread the stair climb. Ava however is in her glee. I am growing a beard due to her thorough cleanliness. If Mr. Clean wanted a business partner, Ava would be the one, and at 19 months old she is starting strong.
With each step she finds another goodie awaiting her divine touch. Peice of paper there, a random block here… a chewed up cookie stuck to the stair.***Urge*** Regardless of the item, she passes it to me to dispose of. Ava is like my personal vaccum, only she doesn’t eat the items…unlike her younger brother. That is for another story.
A parents worst nightmare is for their child to put something dangerous into their mouth; marble, pencil, nail, etc. Thankfully Ava ventures around the house on her own accord collecting choking hazards and faithfully delivering them to myself or Melissa. She’s like the perfect cleaning soldier; it’s as if Robocop and Mr. Clean had morphed into some sort fighting machine.
She also really, really enjoys wearing footwear. Whether they are her size or her older siblings, she holds no prejudice. Pink boots, white shoes, rubber boots, Thomas Tank Engine slippers, all are good choices in her eyes. I sense a large walk in closet with hundreds of footwear in her future.
She can also “hold the fort” on her own. Isaac tends to “invade” her personal space, grabbing a toy, sitting on her head, throwing random objects at her, etc. She takes none of this. I’ve had to separate them multiple times in order to stop a full out brawl, with Ava usually throwing the punches. She has no problem sticking up for herself, which is a great quality.
One thing the Eason Clan knows well is strong women. Melissa gave birth to four children in five years; on Benaiah she had an epidural, during Railene’s birth just laughing gas; and on the twins nothing at all to ease the pain. Strong woman, because if I had to ***shudder*** shoot something out of me, six pounds and above, I’d collapse midway.
My grandmother Alma Marshall was strong in another way. Throughout her life she frequently fought depression due to a string of family tragedies; watching her father drown in a lake at a family picnic and losing her five year old son Carl (from whom I got my first middle name) who fell over a embankment into a ravine below, all because he tried to retrieve a toy airplane with his friends. For Nanny to wake up, start her day with such memories from the past and then to lead a family? Even when at times suffering strong boughts of depression, she kept going. That’s strength.
More recently I witnessed first hand a woman of strength, my mother-in-law Christine. After hearing she had cancer, she began her treatments right away. Through the process I remember her at one point being brought so low physically, due to the medical procedures. However through it all she never lost faith, kept on fighting, and she came out on top. True strength right there.
I know that my daughter Ava is her own person; developing her own personality and traits, which over time will be fine tuned. If I could take all three strengths from the women I mentioned above and inspire my little girl, she’d have an amazing collage of strengths and perseverance to walk through this world.
Christian
P.S To all women reading my blog: Happy Belated International Women’s Day.
The Eason Clan 