Trifecta

There is something about having a third baby that catapults the parents into an entirely new category. It is as if having one or two children falls within the norm and the third throws a family entirely off of the bell curve. So when my friend Kristin announced the arrival of their third baby I couldn't help but feel a certain kinship with she and her family. Perhaps the fact that she has an even bigger age gap between her first two children and her newest addition than we do makes me feel even more bonded to her. In any case, I felt that their arrival home with a new bundle of joy should be celebrated with a gift. As is customary for me, I skipped the cute newborn outfit in favor of putting together a basket of goodies for the nursing mom. I made mini loaves of zucchini bread and bought trail mix, snack bars, herbal tea, and various other snack items. As I poked around the basement I found a basket decorated with bumble bees that has been buzzing around since I received it in celebration of Kiera's birth (2002). It made the perfect vehicle for the goodies. In a downsizing touch, I also added a roll of masking tape with my friend Kristin's last name written in permanent marker on the inside of the roll. I found it as I purged the basement earlier this fall and put it aside for this very occasion. You see, I acquired this tape during one of the many Hall school book fairs that Kristin and I set up over the years. Thanks to the new baby, Kristin and I will once again be Hall school parents together long after our older kids have moved on to high school and college. I attached a little card to the tape explaining how much I was looking forward to hanging posters in the halls of Hall School with her again!