Watching Flowers Grow

Today was a great day. My girls and I got to spend time with my friends' kiddos at their house. We played outside and in! The twins got to go for their first wagon ride, hold their own bubble wands, and even throw rocks into a stream. They climbed walls, slid down slides, sat in toddler-sized wicker chairs and ate Ritz crackers. They pet a puppy, ate pizza standing at a table their size and played with sidewalk chalk. Blanket and pillow forts, scooting down carpeted stairs, running in circles, and exploring through muddy woods in pink rubber boots... It was a fun-filled day! My girls went without a nap today and fell asleep on the car ride home. Then they asked to go to bed during dinner.

 

I love watching my flowers grow!

"Painting"

Susie Homemaker

No internet for the next few days means no blogging, no Facebooking, no picture sharing, and no email, (I don’t have a smart phone). It is a gift from God to me. Our cats won’t know what to do with all the extra attention, and my eyes will be opened to so much more I could be doing around our house and with my kids w/o the internet as my main source of entertainment and distraction. I’ll spend more time cleaning, baking and meal planning. I’ll get creative with my kids, perhaps drive more places. Maybe I’ll even lose an extra pound. Who knows? I may even pick up the phone and CALL SOMEONE.

It’s a Friday night. There isn’t much on TV and due to lack of internet, I decided it was time to try out my homemade cleaner; a concoction of distilled white vinegar and Clementine peels.  To make this citrus-infused cleaning goodness, I poured the vinegar over several Clementine peels I had put in a mason jar, I then screwed on the lid left the jar in my pantry for about 3 weeks. Every once in awhile, as it was stewing, I would turn it upside down to gently mix it a bit. I put it into a spray bottle tonight and went crazy cleaning windows and surfaces in my house. I ran amok when Jeff left the house for a couple of  hours after the kids were in bed so the vinegar smell wouldn’t bother him. I also sprayed my Lysol and my Febreeze while I was at it. The fewer people around the better, for this level of blitzing goodness...

It’s crazy, but after a long time, I feel like I’m finally home. After almost 8 years living in this house, I’m framing family pictures and getting them up on the walls. I’ve found some second hand living room furniture I like and I’ve culled and given away some of the girls’ smaller toys (AKA clutter).  It’s starting to look lower-middle-class-nice around here. Picking up the toy room takes me 10 minutes instead of a half-hour, and I’m not stepping and tripping all over the place anymore. Hallelujah!

It was nine o’clock and the dishes were done, the trash was out, the toy room was picked up, the cat litter boxes were scooped and another load of laundry was in. Who AM I tonight? Susie Homemaker! I’m going to bed and actually get some sleep. Who knows who might wake up in place of the T-Rex?

Poop Grenade

It happened a couple of months ago.

15 minutes. That's how much longer I wanted to luxuriate in bed before I haul myself up to address the banging and shrieks of glee coming from my girls' shared room during naptime. Steeling myself for whatever I would find when I got in there, because I know there will be a mess, I whisper a prayer, "Please Jesus! Help me to be calm and in control when I see what's in that room."

I slowly walk down the hall and I know they hear my footsteps because I hear Rory say, "Uh oh!" Something MUST be wrong.

I stand in the open doorway, mouth ajar, gazing on both of my daughters who are stripped to their birthday suits like naked natives (wait, Rory still has a shirt on). Their bed covers are scattered in piles around the room, their diapers are off and in a corner and there are suspicious piles of liquid pooling on the hardwood floor. But what drew my fearful ire was the site of not one, but TWO toddler turds on the floor in different locations. I shrieked and stepped into the room like it was mined. "Shannon!" I said in a deliberately tense whisper, "Hand...Mommy...the diapers!"  She picked up both turds, in her chubby little hands and dropped them in the diapers. I grimaced and then sighed with relief as if she had put the pins back in both grenades and surrendered.

I had to triage the situation. Clean the kids up in the shower with an initial dee-pooping rinse followed by a double scrub and rinse, followed by a moisturizer, check. Redress children and put them in their highchairs watching kid-friendly YouTube videos, check. Head back to the scene of the crime. Strip everything that can be washed (deciding what was needed for bedtime) and took it downstairs to be laundered. Then I attacked the mess with my paper towels, Little Green Cleaning Machine, and my Windex and cleaned up their room. Lastly, I remade the beds and came down to cook dinner.

I feel like I earned another mommy merit badge that day. I pinned it right next to my Stomach Bug Survivor Badge.

Two Down, One with Croup

Mothers everywhere, scientifically prove everyday that people do not need sleep to survive...as long as we have a steady supply of caffeine. I try and stay away from Ritalin.

Perhaps, we shouldn't operate heavy machinery, you know, cars and the like, but we can keep our offspring alive, and do our jobs, on a daily basis, with little or no shut-eye. I haven't done any crazy, sleep-deprived things to date, but I've come close and I know some of you have...feel free to share. Cereal in the fridge and milk in the cupboard? Ever pour OJ on your cereal? They're always funny!

I am revisiting my days as a new mom...those with little to no sleep.  My girls got bad colds this month and poor Shannie has croup. Oh the awfulness of not being able to make my baby well! The middle of the night (throughout the night) coughing fits, tears, and the red cheeks...poor, sick kiddo. It's scary, choking on phlegm and not being able to breathe. Shannie O'Shannahan is on Prednisolone (spelling) to reduce the inflammation in her chest so she stops barking when she coughs. I alternate between sitting in the bathroom on the toilet with her on my lap wrapped in a blanket while the steamy shower loosens the phlegm in her chest and then taking her outside, bundled up in a blanket so she can breathe the cold air. Both are treatments for the crazy coughing fits.

And even though this has been going on for over a week, I foolishly stay up too late, often for the sake of being alone and not in charge of anyone but myself. Unfortunately, the next day, I don't have enough energy to be nice to my sick kids. I become a T-Rex momma over the tiniest transgressions. If only I would follow that good advice and go to bed early. But I LOVE my alone time.

-T-Rex