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get ready for the time of your life
By heather | October 30, 2007
This entry is for Maura and as yet unborn/un-named Baby R, who we hope makes her appearance on Saturday! She’s already a Scorpio…
I realized this weekend that in the year since BabyA was born, I have never laughed so hard so often or been so delighted with another person. I have never cried with such deep sorrow, exhaustion, and frustration. I think any mom would agree that no matter how much other people warn you, there is just no way to know what’s in store for you.
You can ask, and we will tell you, but you won’t get it until you experience it. In fact, before Alex was born I remember asking one of my stay-at-home-mom friends what she did all day. (We were good enough friends that she didn’t take offense, so please, if you SAH don’t read anymore into it. I get it. I KNOW.) And then after Alex was born my sister-in-law, 8 months pregnant, asked me the same thing and I laughed.
Sunday was one of those perfect days that make you think "Yes! I want more children! Right now!" In fact, I even said to Brett on Sunday night that it had been the kind of day that made me feel like I could have two. Now if I could just get to feeling that way the other six days of the week.
We got up early and did normal family things. We went to the store, then we went to the farmer’s market and bought a pumpkin. The weather was perfect – cool, clear, and sunny – the fall of my childhood – the way fall is supposed to be. We laughed. We played. We snuggled. I cooked. We carved pumpkins.
Alex is turning into such a little boy. I laughed when he crawled through the pumpkin goop then sat right on top of the pile.
I laughed so hard that tears ran down my face when he squatted and pooped in the tub as I was washing pumpkin out of his hair. I laughed even harder when I pulled him out of his makeshift toilet, sat him on the edge of the tub and he did it again – plop – just as Brett walked into the bathroom (because – am genius you know, and couldn’t stop laughing to turn around and put him on the toilet not even 2 feet away – potty training is going to be a blast).
Then at 2am when he started crying and wouldn’t stop, I cried too because I couldn’t make him happy, and because I had to go to work the next day and knew I wasn’t getting much more sleep. I hunkered down with pillows and a comforter and camped out on the floor of his room and held him while he finally eased into a restless sleep. I cried because I don’t know what time he ususally does things during the day and if I did I would better know why he was crying. Ridiculous maybe but it was o’dark thirty at that point.
Just when you think you’ve got it down, baby changes the rules. You never have everything figured out. You will constantly second guess yourself. Parenting magazines, in my opinion anyway, don’t help at all with their advice to do this and say that ("Smart parent response – up yours parenting magazine") so spend your subscription money on a bottle of wine. It’s hard to stay home and it’s hard to work. But you’ll do it and you’ll be great at it. And you’ll have so much fun that you’ll start to see what’s really important. You’ll laugh more and you’ll cry more and it will be awesome.
Is she here yet?
Topics: deep thoughts...or not, unsolicited advice | No Comments »
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