Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

wait for the other shoe to drop-
Fig. to wait for the inevitable next step or the final conclusion

I looked up information on this expression, about waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it has its origins from apartment living. The sound of a shoe dropping can be quite loud to the apartment below, and so when they heard the first startling sound of the first shoe, they would wait until they heard the second one before they could relax again.

When we learned about getting our I-600 approval so quickly, that was like the first shoe. Other families (who had to wait longer for the approval, and thus had passports already) are able to take their kids home this week. The I-600 approval step, for most families, means the end is very near.

To that end, my school decided it would be best for me to be at home. Our families have been great at making sure we have all of the things that she will need, in the thoughts she could be home soon.


Boxes full of stuff for Grace or her room have been arriving daily.


We have piles of baby/toddler stuff stacked by our door.


We even have our beautiful, sporty jogging stroller, all assembled and ready.


Grace's room has been a big project, but it is ready for her as soon as she arrives (even if there are a few decorative things still to go up).

But we are waiting for the other shoe to drop. In this case, her passport. For most people, all they have left at this point is the visa, but there is no where for her visa to go, because her passport isn't ready yet. It could be, any day. We were told by our contact that he expects it to be ready this month, but even he has no control over it at this point. He filed it, and whenever they tell him it is ready, he will tell us. Then we can work on the visa, and it can be really quick from that point.

I was practically raised on musicals, and there is a particular song that has been going through my head a lot lately: "All I Need is the Girl." In the musical, the guy is singing about how he has his whole outfit and routine ready, he just needs the girl to dance with (and then launches into a big dance scene, because, of course, it IS a musical).

Here is the chorus:

Got my tweed pressed
Got my best vest
All I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie
Got my hopes high
Got the time and the place
And I got rhythm
Now all I need is the girl to go with'M
If she'LL
just appear we'll
Take this big town for a WHIRL

For me, it isn't about the tweed or the vest, it is about the room, and the supplies, and the time off work. But all I need now is the girl!

I am also reminded of a section of Oh! The Places You'll Go! Which describes the waiting place:

... you’ll start in to race
down long and wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most usless place

The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO! That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where boom bands are playing.
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! 

Blake can attest, I am no good at waiting. Even if I have to wait for a few minutes without a book or my phone, I get really bored, really quickly.  Especially now that I am off work, the waiting is more a conscious part of my day. I am very aware that I stopped working to be a stay at home mom, not a stay at home wife.

My friends who have experienced pregnancies tell me that this stage isn't so different from the end of a pregnancy. At that point, most people have had their shower, the room is ready, and they know that their due date is close, and yet at any moment they could go into labor. So they too, aren't working, and are wondering every day if that day is when it all gets started.

So here I am, at home, trying to be productive and useful since I am not bringing in income, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I'll end with a country song that came up on my Pandora station, with lyrics that could not be more apt (especially the first chorus):

It won’t be like this for long
One day we'll look back laughin’
At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
‘Cause it won't be like this for long

Four years later ‘bout 4:30
She's crawling in their bed
And when he drops her off at preschool
She's clinging to his leg
The teacher peels her off of him
He says what can I do
She says now don't you worry
This’ll only last a week or two

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon you'll drop her off
And she won’t even know you're gone
This phase is gonna fly by
If you can just hold on
It won’t be like this for long

Some day soon she'll be a teenager
And at times he'll think she hates him
Then he'll walk her down the aisle
And he'll raise her veil
But right now she's up and cryin’
And the truth is that he don't mind
As he kisses her good night
And she says her prayers

He lays down there beside her
‘Til her eyes are finally closed
And just watchin’ her it breaks his heart
Cause he already knows

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
Yeah, this phase is gonna fly by
So, he's tryin’ to hold on
‘Cause it won’t be like this for long
It won’t be like this for long