Sign up for our free newsletter:

 1 of 2

This afternoon I went to a baby shower and smiled with all the other mamas as the gifts were opened. My gift was a pair of yellow footsie pajamas. As the mother-to-be held up the toddler-sized pjs, she exclaimed, "Oh, good! Just like the ones you gave Brook at her shower." I was embarrassed I'd given the same gift twice. Then another young mom in the room said, "Micah is still wearing the ones you gave him." Now I really was embarrassed. Why do I automatically give yellow footsie pjs at every baby shower I attend?

The answer was in front of me. As we passed around the gift box, I reached to feel the soft cotton. This was a gift of firsts and lasts.

When I first put my son in his footsie pjs, he'd just begun to walk. The padded feet were too long, and he'd sit on the couch flapping them and laughing at the sound he made. Once he grew into the pjs, he quickly discovered how well they enabled him to slide his feet on the kitchen floor. Whenever he heard the words "time for bed," his most important activity became impromptu "ice skating" sessions.

On the nights when my fresh-from-the-bath, tow-headed toddler finally mellowed enough for a story, he'd climb into my lap in his footsie pajamas. I'd whisper in his ear as I read, and he'd cuddle up all smooshy and small in my arms. Sometimes he'd look into my eyes and pat my face, as enamored with me as I was with him.

The nights when he managed to finagle a bedtime wrestling match with his daddy were golden moments that twinkled in his sky blue eyes. He'd get all sweaty and giggly and loud, and then off to bed he'd go, with the snaps unsnapped down the front.

Sometimes I'd slip into his room after he'd fallen asleep just to make sure he was snapped up and tucked in. The fragrance of little boy sweat, mixed with fabric softener, lingered on those lemon-colored jammies.

The padded feet wore through and the sleeves rose up his growing arms, but that didn't matter. He still wanted to wear his yellow footsie pajamas every night. One of those nights I snapped him up and a snap popped right off. The jammies were done!

But I couldn't bring myself to throw them away.

And apparently, I can't bring myself to buy anything else for a baby shower gift. I think it's because the first time I truly felt comfortable as a mother was when my son started wearing those pajamas. I put them on him and suddenly he looked like a little boy. Just like that. They were different from baby sleepers. These were pajamas. He'd graduated and was ready to start the toddler years. He'd made it through the baby stage, and so had I.

When the jammies were done, he also was done with his pacifier. We decided to have a "bye-bye binky day." He rounded up all his pacifiers and off we went to the dump where the big trucks made lots of noise and scooped up all the stuff people threw away. Standing as close as was allowed, my brave toddler eagerly tossed one, two, three pacifiers into a mound of rubbish. We dashed back to our car and watched while the huge backhoe's front scoop lowered and carted off a payload that included three binkys. The pacifier season was done; my son never asked for one again.

next page... |  1 of 2

	We'd really like to know what you think about this article!
	Is this the kind of article you'd like to see more of? Is there a topic you'd like us to cover? Please send your response to

				Try Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Order a gift subscription!

FREE MomSense Newsletter Subscribe to the MomSense Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help