We have a tradition in my house. It is called the Memory Jar. Inside of the clear Bormioli jar are thin slips of white computer paper. Every time something happens in our family that we want to remember we write it down and throw it in the jar. Every New Year’s Eve, my husband and I sit down together after the kids have gone to bed and we take turns reading them out loud.
It was the day after our son was born and the nurse had told us that a pediatrician was going to make rounds on the floor to give the newborns their first checkup. We were first time parents and we had a lot of questions! Our room was fairly large with a couch, a hospital bed, and cabinets. At this hospital you stayed in the same room that you delivered. We also had a large separate private bathroom that had a nice big tub and shower.
We had been waiting around all morning and nobody had come yet so my husband decided that he was going to take a quick shower. He left all of his clothes on the couch that was inside the main area of the room and headed in. As our luck would have it, the pediatrician came as he was just finishing his shower. My son was in a bassinet close to the door of the room (which was also close to the bathroom). My husband heard the pediatrician and I chatting about the health of our son and he desperately wanted to be a part of the conversation.
He had a choice to make.
Does he wrap himself in a towel and head out of the bathroom to grab his clothes?
Does he crack the bathroom door and ask that I hand him his clothes real quick?
Nope.
That wouldn’t be much a story, would it? No, he made a quick decision to throw on a hospital robe that was hanging on the back of the door. A hospital robe. Completely open in the back with just a string tied. Nothing else. He opened the door so confidentially and joined the conversation. The pediatrician was taken back, as anybody would be who just got confronted by someone wearing a johnny. They shook hands and my husband just started asking the questions that he had been wanting to ask. I was just standing there in complete shock trying to figure out what in the world was going on. Then just as I thought it couldn’t get any better, a housekeeping lady opened the door to our room, took a step in, and noticed my husband standing there. Chatting with the pediatrician. With his BACK TOWARDS THE DOOR…. She quickly apologized and rushed out of there. After all of our questions were answered and the pediatrician gave our son his first checkup, we shook hands and he left.
I’m sure this is a story that he tells his friends too.
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Memory Jar Slips: Chasing Birds
