Not Right Now, Emily

Emily sat on her front porch, waiting. Today was the day. Today her mummy and daddy were bringing home her baby sister. Emily’s nanna had been living with her for three days now, taking her to school and fixing her dinner. That was because Emily’s mummy and daddy had been out getting her baby sister. Emily wasn’t sure exactly where the baby was coming from. Was there a shop that you went to that was full of babies? Or maybe someone like Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy brought you a baby when you asked nicely and did the right thing. Either way, Emily couldn’t wait to meet her baby sister. 

She smoothed out the wrinkles in her new dress and admired how it glittered in the sun. Nanna had taken her out to buy it yesterday. Emily had wanted to look her very best when meeting the new baby. She looked down at the present, carefully wrapped in pretty pink paper, sitting on the porch next to her. Nanna had helped her wrap it just that morning. Inside was a tiny dress just like hers for her new baby sister. Emily heard a car coming down the road and jumped up…but it wasn’t her mummy and daddy. Another car came the other way, but again, it wasn’t her mummy and daddy. Finally, Emily saw her family’s blue car coming down the road.

“Nanna, Nanna, here they come!” she cried as she jumped up and raced down the porch steps. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and up to the house. Emily stood on her tippy toes, trying to see the baby in the car, but she was too short. She ran to her mummy as the door opened and gave her a fierce hug.

“Hello sweetheart, I missed you,” Mummy said, kissing her on the top of her head. Daddy walked around the car, picked Emily up, spun her around, and then put her back down.

“That is a very nice dress, Emily,” he said, smiling.

“Can I see my baby sister now?” Emily asked, clutching the little pink parcel in her hands. Daddy nodded and opened the car door. Emily climbed up on the side of the car seat and peered into the baby capsule inside. There, nestled in a pink and white striped blanket, lay the tiniest person Emily had ever seen. She had a tiny button nose and what looked like fuzz all over the top of her head. Ten teeny tiny fingers were clasped around the top of her blanket, and Emily was sure that if she picked up the blanket, there would be ten even teenier tinier toes hiding under there.

“Emily, this is Abigail”, her daddy said quietly.

“Oh, Daddy. She is so perfect,” Emily whispered. She didn’t want to wake the baby up. “Can I take her inside?” Daddy shook his head.

“Not right now, Emily, she is still very little. Why don’t you head on in and Mummy and I will bring her in”. Emily frowned slightly, but she took her present inside and waited for the baby. Mummy and Daddy took ages getting inside and comfortable. Finally, Mummy was sitting on the couch with the baby. Emily tried to give her carefully wrapped present to Abigail, but Mummy gasped, and Daddy grabbed it from her hands.

“Emily,” he said, “you need to be very gentle around the baby. She is tiny, and we need to be careful”. Emily frowned a little again but nodded at Daddy. Daddy unwrapped the present and held up the glittery dress for Mummy and Abigail to see.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Emily said, very proud of her choice. “I wanted the baby to know that she was ours, so I thought she should have the same dress as me.”

“That was very sweet of you”, said her mummy in a tired voice. 

“Can I put it on her?” Emily asked. Mummy shook her head.

“Not right, not Emily. Abigail needs to sleep, and I think Mummy does too,” her Daddy said. “Why don’t you go and ask Nanna to make you some lunch?” Daddy helped Mummy off the couch, and they walked into their bedroom. Emily slowly walked into the kitchen, where Nanna made her a sandwich. Meeting the new baby was not quite as fun and exciting as Emily thought it would be. 

Over the next few days, Emily tried to help her mummy and daddy look after the new baby. 

“I think the baby is hungry,” Mummy would say.

“Can I feed her?” Emily would ask.

“Not right now, Emily,” Mummy would reply.

“I think the baby is tired,” Daddy would say.

“Can I put her to bed?” Emily would ask.

“Not right now, Emily,” Daddy would reply.

“I think someone needs their nappy changed,” Nanna would say.

“Can I change her?” Emily would ask. She didn’t really want to touch the nappies (who knew babies could smell so horrible!), but she was desperate to do something for the baby.

“Not right now, Emily,” Nanna would reply. 

“I think it’s time for Abigail’s bath,” Mummy would say.

“Can I give her a bath?” Emily would ask.

“Not right now, Emily,” Mummy would reply.

One afternoon Emily sat on her bed frowning. Not right now, Emily. Not right now, Emily. Not right now, Emily! That was all anybody ever said. Emily just wanted to help, but she was too little to do anything for her baby sister. Wasn’t it her job as the big sister to help her mummy and daddy do things for the baby? Would she ever be able to help her, or would she always be too little? Daddy walked past her room and looked in.

“What are you doing, Emily?” he asked her, stepping through the door.

“Nothing. There’s nothing I can do,” she replied with a frown. Daddy came and sat next to her.

“What do you mean there’s nothing you can do?” he asked. Emily explained how she kept asking to do things for the baby but that everyone kept telling her no.

“I’ll never be big enough to feed her, or put her to bed, or even change her nappy,” Emily said sadly. Daddy put his hand on her shoulder.

“Emily,” he said, smiling, “There are some things that you can’t do for the baby; they are things that only grown-ups can do. But there are some things that you can do that would not only help Abigail but your mummy as well.”

“Like what?” Emily said doubtfully. 

“There are always lots of little things that need to be done with a baby in the house. The best thing you can do to be helpful is to make sure that you clean up your toys and put your dishes in the sink. That means that Mummy and I don’t need to worry about doing it,” Daddy said. Emily frowned, the biggest frown so far. That didn’t sound like helping; that just sounded like chores. 

“But there are other things you can do too. If the baby is crying, maybe you could show her one of her toys. Or Mummy might need a burp rug or a nappy or a towel or something else for Abigail, and you could help her,” Daddy continued. “You need to stop and think about what you can to do help Mummy, and when you help Mummy, you are helping the baby. That’s what big sisters do.” Emily stopped frowning. She nodded her head and decided that she would try what her Daddy had said.

The next day Emily made sure that she picked up all of her toys (and some baby toys) and packed them away. When she finished eating at mealtimes, she took her dishes into the kitchen, and she took Mummy’s coffee cups in.

When she heard Mummy say, “I think the baby is hungry,” Emily ran to the nursery and grabbed a burp rug for her.

When she heard Daddy say, “I think the baby is tired,” Emily ran and closed the curtains in the nursery and made sure that the bed was clean and tidy.

When she heard Nanna say, “I think someone needs their nappy changed,” Emily ran and made sure that the wipes, clean nappies and powder were ready on the changing table.

When she heard Mummy say, “I think it’s time for Abigail’s bath,” Emily ran and got her towel ready in the bathroom.

The next afternoon after Nanna had gone home and Daddy was quietly watching TV in the lounge room, Mummy came to find Emily. Emily was in the nursery, watching Abigail sleep. Mummy picked Emily up and sat with her on the rocking chair.

“Emily, you have been so helpful the last few days,” Mummy said and kissed her on the cheek. They cuddled for a few minutes, and then Mummy yawned.

“Mummy, I can help if you like. Why don’t you go to bed, and I will watch the baby for a little while?” Emily asked, hopefully. She was sure her mummy would say, “Not right now, Emily,” but instead, Mummy smiled.

“That would be very helpful. If she wakes, please come and get me.” Mummy kissed her again and left the room. Emily carefully and quietly pulled the chair closer to the crib to see her baby sister. She could see her ten teeny tiny fingers and her ten teenier tinier toes. As she watched, Emily was sure that she saw her baby sister smile at her.

Emily leaned a little closer and whispered, “Welcome home, Abigail.”