The waiting game of cards

Waiting. We're waiting. The baby crib is up. The car seat is in. The 0-3 month gender-neutral clothes are washed. Hospital bag is packed. We're waiting. Mom says the hardest part of waiting is the not knowing. At least, when you're waiting for Christmas, you know it arrives on December 25 - without fail. This whole waiting for Baby thing is a completely different game. She says to make no mistake: There are still plenty of things to do at work. A solid 11 days remain until the actual due date. To be pregnant for another 11 days (give or take) won't kill her, but the waiting might.
My recent observations of Mom tell me that she's antsy. Sometimes she sits in Dad's recliner, garbed in dad's shorts and t shirt, watching the second hand on the clock. I think she's counting. I hear words like 'three centimeters already' and 'contraction.' Other times, she's regular old Mom - zooming cars and reading books with us. But all the time, she's moving pretty slowly. We climb the basement steps together; one at a time. Dad does all the lifting now - garbage to the curb, laundry to the bedrooms, Sam into his crib. All in all, we're getting through this together, but I gotta tell you: this waiting thing is for the birds. It's time for Baby.
In my humble, almost-three-year-old opinion, I think the danger of waiting lays in direct relationship to one's ability to imagine possibilities. For example, what if Mom goes to work, makes it all the way up to the 19th floor, only to begin the motions of labor once again? Sweet lord. Contractions would start, baby would drop, all the lovely things that happen when baby drops would happen, and suddenly Mom would be in the nearest wheelchair, on the nearest ambulance, whisked to the nearest hospital. While the story may not make  the intranet news site at Target, it would certainly be the talk of red and khaki town for a solid two weeks.
I think the bottom line is this: Mom's not so good at waiting. Waiting takes patience. Takes discipline. Takes the wisdom to know that time moves at the same pace it always has - whether you're ready and waiting or caught by surprise. While she has some of all three of these traits: patience, discipline and wisdom, I'm here to tell you that waiting happily takes work, and Mom could use a hand.
Further reflection tells me that we've all been there. Perhaps you're there right now: waiting. Maybe you're waiting for a baby, waiting for that promotion, waiting for Mr. or Ms. Right, waiting to understand your next step in life, or simply waiting for the bus. Here's to the ability to put complaints on a shelf, worries to the curb, and a smile on your face. Here's to happy waiting. Here's to knowing that all things happen in their own time, and even when you've already done all of the right things to prepare, the way you live your waiting time defines your character, shapes your attitude, and always, always strengthens you for what's to come.