The Gift of Looking Forward
Whew, it has been a whirlwind couple of days. And I have no expectation that things will slow down. One of the most annoying things for me this month of NaBloPoMo is that my blog has felt more like Facebook status updates than any real writing. Not only have I not had time for it, I just haven't had a writer's mind lately. My mind is filled with nothing but to do lists and checkmarks. In fact, I am so sidetracked these days that I spent most of yesterday reversing my words. Whatever I meant to say, I said backwards. Instead of wash your face and brush your teeth, it was brush your face and wash your teeth. Most of date night was spent with me reversing everything or taking long pauses between sentences so I could make sure that my mouth actually said what my mind was thinking and that whatever my mind was thinking made sense. I married a patient man, thank goodness.
Thankfully, today was a laid back, do a lot of random things type of day. Since I have no real inspiration... here is what my day consisted of:
1:00 a.m. - Finish unpacking groceries and hiding presents and climb into bed.
7:00 a.m. - Gently woken by Leilee whispering, "Mommy, I want a bowl of cereal." right. in. my. face.
7:30 a.m. - More repeats and face squeezings by Leilee and not so gentle face whispering. Unfold self out of bed and carry Leilee down the hallway. Slowly make a bowl of cereal and put face on table while she eats.
7:35ish a.m. - Leilee decides she is done and goes off to play. Make it to couch and fade in and out of consciousness while Leilee and Grady play and snack on cereal.
8:30ish a.m. - Leilee has to potty. Take care of that. Grab a blanket from hall closet and stumble to other couch since Grady stole my spot. Fade in and out of consciousness while my children climb on me and fight and play and eat things out of the cupboard.
10:02 a.m. - Jason wakes me up by grinding coffee (I love him!) and wiggling my feet. I finally decide to get up. While in bathroom, I realize that I am not in the mood to race around the house like a mad family just to get to church on time.
10:something a.m. - Jason and I decide to skip church in the morning and go to night church. Jason proceeds to make the starving children oatmeal - which overflows the bowls, not once, but three times in my already unclean microwave.
The rest of the morning consists of me cleaning and straightening and throwing things away. The kids be-bop around, doing their own thing. I do remember telling them that if I ever made a habit of sleeping the morning away on the couch and making them fend for themselves for food and clothing, that they needed to tell another grown-up that they trust.
(As a side note - Connor told me the other night that I needed to go to "How to be a Better Parent School" (aka parenting classes in my social worker mind). Totally hurt my feelings and came close to inciting a sarcastic and ranting response. But instead, I bit my tongue and asked why. He proceeded to tell me, in the calmest way, that he really didn't like it that I teased so much and it made him sad and mad and sometimes hurt his feelings. I didn't draw out the conversation because it was a night that all my children were spontaneously combusting into little sobbing puddles over completely benign issues... so we just let it go. Today I wanted to tell Connor that if he told a grownup that I slept on the couch all day in a coma and didn't feed them that that would be one way to get me into Better Parent School... but again, in a wise move, I bit my tongue. Because that would have been teasing, and I really need to do less of that.)
The kids also got to ride with dad down the driveway to fill potholes. Even Leilee. I was a slightly nervous wreck over them all in the quad trailer, but I prayed and let it go. When they came back, Leilee busted through the door and said, "We played in the diir-iiiirt!" She was a happy mess.
Grady and Connor and I also had a funny impromptu discussion about Santa and the Tooth Fairy. You see, Grady has two fairly loose teeth. He doesn't want to wiggle them and is a little nervous about other ones growing in if the baby ones fall out. Anyway, I told him he had better hurry up and lose them before Christmas because I didn't know if Santa and the Tooth Fairy got along.
I asked what they thought would happen if both Santa and the Tooth Fairy were in the house at the same time.
Grady - 'Hey, Tooth Fairy, what are you doing here?"
Connor - "Yeah, 'I've got work to do' Santa would say."
Me - 'Tooth Fairy, how come you have to steal my thunder? I only get one night a year and you have to be out here too?'
Grady - "I wonder if they would both try and go down the chimney at the same time."
Me - "We don't have a chimney."
There was more, but I don't remember because I didn't write it all down right away.
I made the kids lunch and got Leilee down for a nap (which took FOR-EVVVER). I cleaned my vacuum. I made the mistake of not cleaning the filter after the second time vacuuming the rugs in the laundry room. When I tried today, the vacuum was spitting dust instead of sucking dust up. I should have taken a picture. I am not kidding, I think I scraped a full cup or more of dust out of the filter. It's amazing how much better your vacuum cleaner works when it isn't clogged!
House cleaned. Changed into running clothes. Got dinner stuff out. Jason and I decided not to go to night church because my sister was getting here earlier than we though she would. And, I am just happy with being a heathen today, I guess. Jason hung lights outside.
I ran ONE mile (woohoo!).
My sister and her husband and baby boy showed up (YAY!).
Commenced cooking and eating and visiting and chasing children.
It has been a long and full day. I am only working 2 1/2 days this week and am looking forward to getting cards out, making things with my kids, and wrapping presents. I am looking forward to visiting with my family every night this week. I am looking forward to complete vacation next week with no work worries or required commutes. I am looking forward to Christmas!
I am also looking forward to all the packages we ordered online getting here in time... I guess I should go check the tracking on those....
Thankfully, today was a laid back, do a lot of random things type of day. Since I have no real inspiration... here is what my day consisted of:
1:00 a.m. - Finish unpacking groceries and hiding presents and climb into bed.
7:00 a.m. - Gently woken by Leilee whispering, "Mommy, I want a bowl of cereal." right. in. my. face.
7:30 a.m. - More repeats and face squeezings by Leilee and not so gentle face whispering. Unfold self out of bed and carry Leilee down the hallway. Slowly make a bowl of cereal and put face on table while she eats.
7:35ish a.m. - Leilee decides she is done and goes off to play. Make it to couch and fade in and out of consciousness while Leilee and Grady play and snack on cereal.
8:30ish a.m. - Leilee has to potty. Take care of that. Grab a blanket from hall closet and stumble to other couch since Grady stole my spot. Fade in and out of consciousness while my children climb on me and fight and play and eat things out of the cupboard.
10:02 a.m. - Jason wakes me up by grinding coffee (I love him!) and wiggling my feet. I finally decide to get up. While in bathroom, I realize that I am not in the mood to race around the house like a mad family just to get to church on time.
10:something a.m. - Jason and I decide to skip church in the morning and go to night church. Jason proceeds to make the starving children oatmeal - which overflows the bowls, not once, but three times in my already unclean microwave.
The rest of the morning consists of me cleaning and straightening and throwing things away. The kids be-bop around, doing their own thing. I do remember telling them that if I ever made a habit of sleeping the morning away on the couch and making them fend for themselves for food and clothing, that they needed to tell another grown-up that they trust.
(As a side note - Connor told me the other night that I needed to go to "How to be a Better Parent School" (aka parenting classes in my social worker mind). Totally hurt my feelings and came close to inciting a sarcastic and ranting response. But instead, I bit my tongue and asked why. He proceeded to tell me, in the calmest way, that he really didn't like it that I teased so much and it made him sad and mad and sometimes hurt his feelings. I didn't draw out the conversation because it was a night that all my children were spontaneously combusting into little sobbing puddles over completely benign issues... so we just let it go. Today I wanted to tell Connor that if he told a grownup that I slept on the couch all day in a coma and didn't feed them that that would be one way to get me into Better Parent School... but again, in a wise move, I bit my tongue. Because that would have been teasing, and I really need to do less of that.)
The kids also got to ride with dad down the driveway to fill potholes. Even Leilee. I was a slightly nervous wreck over them all in the quad trailer, but I prayed and let it go. When they came back, Leilee busted through the door and said, "We played in the diir-iiiirt!" She was a happy mess.
Grady and Connor and I also had a funny impromptu discussion about Santa and the Tooth Fairy. You see, Grady has two fairly loose teeth. He doesn't want to wiggle them and is a little nervous about other ones growing in if the baby ones fall out. Anyway, I told him he had better hurry up and lose them before Christmas because I didn't know if Santa and the Tooth Fairy got along.
I asked what they thought would happen if both Santa and the Tooth Fairy were in the house at the same time.
Grady - 'Hey, Tooth Fairy, what are you doing here?"
Connor - "Yeah, 'I've got work to do' Santa would say."
Me - 'Tooth Fairy, how come you have to steal my thunder? I only get one night a year and you have to be out here too?'
Grady - "I wonder if they would both try and go down the chimney at the same time."
Me - "We don't have a chimney."
There was more, but I don't remember because I didn't write it all down right away.
I made the kids lunch and got Leilee down for a nap (which took FOR-EVVVER). I cleaned my vacuum. I made the mistake of not cleaning the filter after the second time vacuuming the rugs in the laundry room. When I tried today, the vacuum was spitting dust instead of sucking dust up. I should have taken a picture. I am not kidding, I think I scraped a full cup or more of dust out of the filter. It's amazing how much better your vacuum cleaner works when it isn't clogged!
House cleaned. Changed into running clothes. Got dinner stuff out. Jason and I decided not to go to night church because my sister was getting here earlier than we though she would. And, I am just happy with being a heathen today, I guess. Jason hung lights outside.
I ran ONE mile (woohoo!).
My sister and her husband and baby boy showed up (YAY!).
Commenced cooking and eating and visiting and chasing children.
It has been a long and full day. I am only working 2 1/2 days this week and am looking forward to getting cards out, making things with my kids, and wrapping presents. I am looking forward to visiting with my family every night this week. I am looking forward to complete vacation next week with no work worries or required commutes. I am looking forward to Christmas!
I am also looking forward to all the packages we ordered online getting here in time... I guess I should go check the tracking on those....
This time of year is so full of blessings and busy-ness--it can be exhausting. When mine were in this age range, I was definitely the zombie on the couch ESPECIALLY this time of year. ;)
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