So how is life going these days, anyway?
It honestly changes minute by minute. So quickly I feel like I constantly have whiplash and don’t have time to breathe. I know we’re in survival mode and it won’t always be like this. We’ll get to a point where I’ll have time to respond to emails again, make those doctors appointments I’ve had on my list forever, and not feel constantly tired. And then I’ll look back and wonder where these days went.
Some days I feel like a super mama. That I’m figuring this out a bit. I get the baby to nap easily, I manage to do a super messy craft project with the older kids, and no one’s crying. We put on matching PJs and get a picture with almost everyone looking, and sing along to Christmas music.
And then the next day the baby screams all day, both older kids are acting out, even the cats seem over it. We’ll think we just need to get through a day or two and then we can breathe, and then daycare closes or sends the kids home for being “sick” and our schedule is turned upside down again.
Every time I think I can plan on some time to write, do something creative, cross something off my list, another thing comes up. And so we pivot.
We throw the kids in the car and drive to Old Mac Donald’s and order ice cream for dinner. We’ve probably been leaning a bit more heavily than usual on the 20 side of that 80/20 rule, but it’s okay. We know it’s a season, and I’m all about embracing that lately. We’ve discovered that E hates Rudolph and Charlie Brown, but will watch Curious George or Frosty. Donuts are better than ice cream, Legos and Magnatiles are both something the older two will play with together, and whatever they’re doing, it’s ripping holes in all of the knees on their pants.
It also doesn’t help that it’s December, the most busy month of the year. We’ve gotten to a point where we wrote a list of things we really wanted to make sure happened this month, and even still we’re giving it the side eye to see what maybe we’ll cross off and try again next year. It doesn’t bother me too much, since I’d much rather be rested and relaxed than get everything crossed off my list. It doesn’t take much to make Christmas magic, either. Yesterday a mini candy cane for dinner and a new tablecloth was enough to elicit jumping up and down.
I do wish I had a tape recorder to catch all the amazingness that does happen here on a daily basis, though. Because in between the minutes of chaos are the best ones. Moments when all three children have somehow ended up on top of me and they’re all cuddling and being super sweet. So here’s my brain dump before I forget it all.
G has learned how to give some amazing hugs lately, which is even more rewarding because he isn’t always a physical/cuddly kid. When I’m saying goodnight to him, I’ll ask him if he knows how much I love him, and squeeze him tight and say “THIS MUCH!” He’s started doing it back until we’re squeezing each other and laughing as we both say “THIS MUCH” over and over
It’s really dark in December, so we’ve been talking a lot about sun rises and sunsets. G cries when the sun “goes to bed” and in the morning he’ll look out his window and ask when the sun is going to hatch.
I told E the other day that G loves him so much, and E said “yes, because I learn all these new things that I can teach him, like new dances!”
E told me that he’s been dreaming of his future babies and their names. When I asked what their names were, he said “Jackson, Kaien, and Abby the unicorn. No, Abby the sparkle unicorn! NO! Abby the rainbow sparkle unicorn!” He also told me they’re going to come when he’s 16… I just hope they’re not triplets!
And finally, one other observation:
As you know, Tom and I are both math people. Tom works on the accounting side, I work on the actuarial side. I try not to make too many predictions or assumptions about our children’s future, but there have been a few hints that make me think maybe our math skills might rub off on them a bit.
G seems to love shapes, but in a way that constantly surprises me. He has a fidget popper that he sleeps with, and he asked me for it the other day. When E asks me for his, he’ll ask for “the popper” or will call it by color, but G said “Can I have my Octagon?” Or I was reading him a book recently where Cookie Monster was eating different shaped cookies. One page had a diamond shape on it, and G pointed at it and said “Rhombus Cookie!!”
Meanwhile, E has somehow learned (taught himself?) addition. It started off by memorizing that two plus two equals four, but has quickly moved to any addition he can do on his fingers. He gets the concept and adds up things all around him. It’s very cool obviously, but also makes me laugh and shake my head a bit because the poor kid has two geeky parents - he had no chance.
