As I held her, I rocked back and forth, swaying left foot to right. My mother told me that her mother, raised on a farm north of Saskatoon, had called this the Saskatchewan shuffle. But every mother knows it, that swaying. Every mother calls it something. Sometimes you will see a woman doing it instinctively, her arms empty, when she hears the crying of a stranger’s baby.
— Leslie Jamison, Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story (Little Brown and Company, February 20, 2024)
Notes: NY Times Book Review by Kate Dwyer: “The High Priestess of the Personal.” Photo: Kristina Paukshtite
Yesss
I still catch myself doing the mommy shuffle.
I can see that. I can.
Love the photo
Me too!!
I love this. it makes me think of when a child shouts, Mommy! in a crowd and just about every woman turns to look, even those who haven’t had small children for some time! I still make a mental note of where my children and grandchildren are when I hear an ambulance. (Even though they all live in another continent across an ocean)
Awwww. Thanks for sharing Darlene.
How funny, when I saw that cute, touching photo, I automatically started to sway….. aaah, the power of feelings no longer needed but always there to be employed immediately ! Did you read more of that author?
You did! Wow! I haven’t read her other books but she is highly thought of. Let’s see how this one goes. I’m 20% in.
I still do the mommy sway…even when on the phone, occasionally catch myself doing the sway if I’m standing in line…or holding a puppy…or…
awww……
You wouldn’t 😉say that if you saw me in line at the supermarket..
I would (to myself)!
😄
Oops…I put the emoji in the wrong place!
❤️I guess it mimics, for the baby, the swaying that goes on when in the womb, but you know, I’ve never NOT seen a dad do this baby-swaying, too (none of whom were from Canada)! 😊
So true!!!!!
I loved all that went into being pregnant and then finely holding the baby in my arms, only to sway to the rhythm of the baby inside us for they move a lot. That rhythm is a God thing, given to us in many things. They say the earth has a rhythm and it has a hum and if things are quiet, it can be heard. Blessings
I was just speaking with my teaching partner, who is pregnant for the first time, about this. I still find myself naturally swaying when hands on with a baby, or even when not –
Awwww
Do you carry your dog like this?
Absolutely!!!!
Me too for my cats… This was so lovely, Thank you dear David, have a nice day and new week, Love, nia
Thanks Nia. You too
How, I miss those days of Sway…
We’ll not be blessed with a grandchild…we grieve…
Our elderly cat gets so much TLC…
sorry to hear about the state of Grandchildren. And I’m sure the cat is loving the attention!