The Business of Motherhood
Today is beautiful day for many reasons. The children woke up in good moods, they both wanted items for breakfast that were stocked and waiting in the cabinets, and when it was time to get dressed, there wasn't much protesting (just one small "...but I'm still playing." This is how a great day in the life as a mom starts out.
Today was Kindermusik day for Paisley. He started music when he was 18 months. Prior to this fall, it was a class that he and I took together. The class brought Paisley (for the most part) out of his bashful shell and was a great way for me to meet other moms. Since he turned 3 in August, he moved up to the 3-5 class which meant he took the class by himself while I sat in the lobby.
At first he did good. He went in without issue and while I know he was the shadow of the teacher, he was fine with class. Then a couple weeks ago something changed and he said he no longer liked the class, asking if he could stop going. I tried having him explain to me what he didn't like but all he would say is that he liked other activities better and he wanted to stay with me.
Each week I would attempt to get him excited about class, even promising lunch at a special pizza place after class. For whatever reason, he began crying when I went to leave the classroom. The teacher is fantastic about scooping him up and distracting him, but it would break my heart. We are now down to 1 last class. Today we avoided any tears because I gave him a pack of fruit snacks and told him if he didn't cry I would open them after class. I've learned as mother, bribing is perfectly acceptable. Fingers crossed the final class goes ok, and he did get his fruit snacks today (score one for me!)
While we were in town I had to run into the mall to complete tax forms to work the day after Thanksgiving (yes, I'm crazy). I worked in retail for 5 years and I love the craziness of the holidays. So, the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) is the day I come out of retail retirement and work a few hours. Anyway, so I ventured into the mall with the littles. They were little angels as I completed my paperwork (never mind that my employment file now has "drawings" all over it) and then just for fun we walked the mall. We stopped and saw Santa, we rode on an overpriced electric bulldozer, and strolled through the Christmas store. Nothing got broken and we didn't have a single meltdown. As I loaded up the stroller in the car I felt like I was doing a dang good job at this mom business, I even decided to chance fate and take 2 hungry babies to the grocery store.
Even though our town has had a Fresh Market for 3.5 years, I still feel like I am somewhere else when I shop there. I love all the different items and the smell of coffees and herbs. The kids pretty much get fed the entire time we are there...meat and cheese from the deli, cookie from the bakery, and whatever the baked good of the day is at check-out. With food constantly being handed to them, they both happily snacked as I shopped. We all left with smiles on our faces and a few extra crumbs on our shirts.
By this point I was ready to throw caution to the wind. Who were these 2 wonderful angels accompanying me today and where is their real mother?? Just kidding....today is just one of those good days. One of those days that everyone is happy and going with the flow. One of those days I wish never ended. So we went to Chick-fila because we weren't quite full despite the food at Fresh Market.
Two chicken sandwiches, a medium fry, a medium fruit cup and 2 glasses of water later, our bellies were full and we were on our way. The kids were getting glassy eyed as we sat eating our lunch, so I knew we needed to get on the road soon or sure enough my little angels would turn into gremlins (the mean ones with lots of snot and sharp teeth, not the cute snuggly ones). Mouths and hands were wiped and minutes later we were on the road. Despite the wind, the sun beaming into the windows gave me a warm beautiful drive home. I could hear the little people in the backseat sleeping and I sang along with the music on the radio. I'm not one that likes to drive, but the conditions were so perfect I could have drove all day. Or at least until the kids woke up.
Maybe it's because the kids are getting older, maybe I'm learning to be a more efficient mother, or maybe it's a little of both....but I feel like we are in a good groove., the best groove we've been in since Lila was born. I've learned to keep the baby up until noon so that both babies nap at the same time, giving me roughly an hour to do laundry, prep food, etc. I've started planning a menu for the week so that my grocery shopping list is more efficient and I'm not scrambling at 3pm trying to figure out whats for dinner. I'm staying on top of laundry/ironing and I even hand scrubbed the floor the other day. Not to say that next week the wheels won't fall off the wagon and I'll forget half the items on my grocery list, or someone won't want the item on that nights menu, but for now I have a good handle on this mother business.
I'll take this good day and soak it up. I'll look at my sweet napping babes and breath in there sweet clean scents. I'll look at my menu and start pulling out the items needed to make my baked spaghetti. The business of motherhood is a pretty good business to be in.
Today was Kindermusik day for Paisley. He started music when he was 18 months. Prior to this fall, it was a class that he and I took together. The class brought Paisley (for the most part) out of his bashful shell and was a great way for me to meet other moms. Since he turned 3 in August, he moved up to the 3-5 class which meant he took the class by himself while I sat in the lobby.
At first he did good. He went in without issue and while I know he was the shadow of the teacher, he was fine with class. Then a couple weeks ago something changed and he said he no longer liked the class, asking if he could stop going. I tried having him explain to me what he didn't like but all he would say is that he liked other activities better and he wanted to stay with me.
Each week I would attempt to get him excited about class, even promising lunch at a special pizza place after class. For whatever reason, he began crying when I went to leave the classroom. The teacher is fantastic about scooping him up and distracting him, but it would break my heart. We are now down to 1 last class. Today we avoided any tears because I gave him a pack of fruit snacks and told him if he didn't cry I would open them after class. I've learned as mother, bribing is perfectly acceptable. Fingers crossed the final class goes ok, and he did get his fruit snacks today (score one for me!)
While we were in town I had to run into the mall to complete tax forms to work the day after Thanksgiving (yes, I'm crazy). I worked in retail for 5 years and I love the craziness of the holidays. So, the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) is the day I come out of retail retirement and work a few hours. Anyway, so I ventured into the mall with the littles. They were little angels as I completed my paperwork (never mind that my employment file now has "drawings" all over it) and then just for fun we walked the mall. We stopped and saw Santa, we rode on an overpriced electric bulldozer, and strolled through the Christmas store. Nothing got broken and we didn't have a single meltdown. As I loaded up the stroller in the car I felt like I was doing a dang good job at this mom business, I even decided to chance fate and take 2 hungry babies to the grocery store.Even though our town has had a Fresh Market for 3.5 years, I still feel like I am somewhere else when I shop there. I love all the different items and the smell of coffees and herbs. The kids pretty much get fed the entire time we are there...meat and cheese from the deli, cookie from the bakery, and whatever the baked good of the day is at check-out. With food constantly being handed to them, they both happily snacked as I shopped. We all left with smiles on our faces and a few extra crumbs on our shirts.
By this point I was ready to throw caution to the wind. Who were these 2 wonderful angels accompanying me today and where is their real mother?? Just kidding....today is just one of those good days. One of those days that everyone is happy and going with the flow. One of those days I wish never ended. So we went to Chick-fila because we weren't quite full despite the food at Fresh Market.
Two chicken sandwiches, a medium fry, a medium fruit cup and 2 glasses of water later, our bellies were full and we were on our way. The kids were getting glassy eyed as we sat eating our lunch, so I knew we needed to get on the road soon or sure enough my little angels would turn into gremlins (the mean ones with lots of snot and sharp teeth, not the cute snuggly ones). Mouths and hands were wiped and minutes later we were on the road. Despite the wind, the sun beaming into the windows gave me a warm beautiful drive home. I could hear the little people in the backseat sleeping and I sang along with the music on the radio. I'm not one that likes to drive, but the conditions were so perfect I could have drove all day. Or at least until the kids woke up.Maybe it's because the kids are getting older, maybe I'm learning to be a more efficient mother, or maybe it's a little of both....but I feel like we are in a good groove., the best groove we've been in since Lila was born. I've learned to keep the baby up until noon so that both babies nap at the same time, giving me roughly an hour to do laundry, prep food, etc. I've started planning a menu for the week so that my grocery shopping list is more efficient and I'm not scrambling at 3pm trying to figure out whats for dinner. I'm staying on top of laundry/ironing and I even hand scrubbed the floor the other day. Not to say that next week the wheels won't fall off the wagon and I'll forget half the items on my grocery list, or someone won't want the item on that nights menu, but for now I have a good handle on this mother business.
I'll take this good day and soak it up. I'll look at my sweet napping babes and breath in there sweet clean scents. I'll look at my menu and start pulling out the items needed to make my baked spaghetti. The business of motherhood is a pretty good business to be in.
Those days are magical!! Way to go for documenting it and for hitting your stride :)
ReplyDeleteMagical indeed! Of course that night Paisley ended up losing his mind because I forgot to turn the light on in the oven while I was baking spaghetti...He literally laid down on the kitchen and sobbed because the spaghetti was in the dark. Of course I turned on the oven light as quickly as possible but it didn't help! :)
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