The Roller Coaster

There are hard days sometimes. Some days both kids are wailing and screaming and throwing epic tantrums in the grocery store resulting in numerous pitying (and annoyed) looks from fellow shoppers.

Sometimes stress gets me in its clutches. The kids are sick, it's snowing and cold and there's no place to take them to get their energy out. They whine, cling, scream, vomit, poop, smear food, pull on and demand from you every ounce of your being somedays. Some weeks. It can be hard. Sure, sure, you might say, you get to stay home! Who wouldn't give their lower wisdom tooth to be able to do that? You get to play all day happily with your children! How dare you complain! I have to go to work and make money! Ah yes. Now, when I was working as a professional archaeologist, it was practically a sport to bitch about your job. We loved to complain. Too hot. Bugs. Tired. Stupid clients. Stupid permitting office. Stupid biologists thinking they're better than us.

But really. This parenting stuff is harder. Being on call and in demand 24/7 is harder. But also far, far, far more rewarding. Though, somewhere in the land of parenting, if you are fortunate enough to stay at home with your kids, you'd best shut yer' mouth about anything about it that might be stressful because you have the golden opportunity! When did it occur that the one job you don't get paid for is the only one you can't complain about from time to time? I mean, when I was working as an archaeologist, no one said, "well, why don't you quit?".

Of course I don't want to quit parenting. When the kids are testing me to my limits, that's sometimes when I find that little piece of me that is the strongest. And we get through the meltdown, the poor sleep, the ear infection, the hunger strike. When we're at our lowest, I KNOW we are headed up to the top soon. I wouldn't get off this ride if you paid me.

All Through the Night

And so, the drama surrounding the infamous "toddler bed debacle of 2010" has turned into not such a big deal. Perhaps it is due to the fact that an ear infection has slowed him down and sleep feels good and less of a waste of time? Or, perhaps he was just ready.

But am I? My baby, how did you get so big?

The END of an Era

Ever since he was ten months old, my son has been a dream sleeper. You could put him in his crib wide awake, say "night night" and he'd go to sleep. No tears, no muss, no fuss. Of course we had the occasional night waking due to a pacifier being missing and whatnot. But for the most part. Dream. Well, he figured out that he could climb out of his crib. It's over. The easy naps, the restful sleep. OVER. We are basically without choice in bringing in a toddler bed. Because we are awesome parents, we purchased an expensive "lifetime" crib. One that boasts Crib, toddler bed to eventual full sized bed for your little one. Oh, we had high hopes. Alas, when we moved to Wisconsin for the year we apparently left the crib to toddler bed conversion IN FLORIDA. Yeah... SO, our options are limited. Mattress on the floor or buy a freaking bed to make it through the next few months. I seriously want to bang my head on the wall.

And hence they came...and lay waste to the land!

Help Elmo!

Children..too strong for Hulk!

At one time, this was organized.

Playgroup. Why do I do this to myself? To socialize my child? What? Why does it always have to be at someone's house?! Ahhh!

Musings on Motherhood

Some quotes I found inspiring on this otherwise uninspiring Monday morning:

"By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women's opportunities, not to limit them. The self-esteem that has been found in new pursuits can also be found in mothering." -- Elaine Heffner

"Motherhood brings as much joy as ever, but it still brings boredom, exhaustion, and sorrow too. Nothing else ever will make you as happy or as sad, as proud or as tired, for nothing is quite as hard as helping a person develop his own individuality especially while you struggle to keep your own." -- Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons

"Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You long to comfort all who are desolate." -- Charlotte Gray

One of those days

You know you are just having one of those days when all of the following happen at once: You are suffering from a crazy, immediate onset headache directly behind your left eye, while on the phone with the lady at the Thai Restaurant you are trying to order take out from, but you can't understand really what she's asking you and you just keep saying "Yes" and "Chicken" and then hope that whatever you actually DID order is tasty, all the while your 8 month old is furtively trying to shove dog food into her mouth and your two year old is standing on the trash can and you can smell that his diaper needs attention NOW and for whatever reason, you are still annoyed by the latest blog update from a newbie mom extolling the virtues of CIO and you find yourself wondering for the 103904983094823048th time if really, you shouldn't just do it, too, but then have the same gut feeling that it just isn't right for your family that you have every time you visit this thought. So... you mentally berate yourself again for letting the kids watch too much television, become melancholy that they both really really need hair cuts and loathe yourself once again for eating three more Reeses hearts after you were just complaining to your friend about your still squishy post partum belly.

But then, upstairs, while you are done changing your dear son's poopy diaper (the third!! that day) and you change your daughter's pants because they are wet from her having gotten ahold of your son's cup of water and dumping it all over the floor then proceeding to crawl through the subsequent puddle, you smell her head while putting on her socks and she smells like maple syrup (albeit due to the maple syrup flavored Gerber puffs she had been eating earlier - snack FAIL), and that maple syrup smell is sweet and pretty, and you are happy.

Update: So, my husband goes to pick up the Thai food, and here's the pick up transaction:

B: Picking up order...blah blah

Thai Restaurant Lady: Oh, so your wife called the order in.

B: Erm, yeah.

Thai Restaurant Lady: Why didn't she make you dinner?

I cannot believe I was judged by the Thai Restaurant Lady!

Oh, and instead of the Satay I ordered for Ronan, we got Pad Thai!

Mom Fail of the Day

Nice.