Ho hum, life is moving along. It's not too exciting in the cornfield, which is just fine with us.
Tom is studying for his CCNA - Cisco Certified Network Analyst exam, which really means he has a legit excuse to come home, take over the computer and hide in the basement. But he does laundry while he's studying, so it's ok with me. When I start screeching at the kids, he surfaces and sends me to bed.
Evan - still up several times at night, but not up for very long. I really think the kid believes he can't go to sleep without one of us there. He wakes up, comes to find me, I tuck him back in and sit in the living room for 10-20 minutes, and I go back to bed, several times a night. He's pretty excited to decorate for Christmas on Friday, at least until the first friend calls. Then he'll ditch me, I'm sure.
Colby - stealing E's nintendo every chance he gets, and wreaking havoc. He's watching Dora Saves the Puppies for the 47th time this week, and I should be cleaning the toy room while he's busy.
Me - had to work a bit extra, but I'll enjoy it in the paycheck. Working for a large employer, employee satisfaction isn't high on their list, but I've paid my dues. Next time, I'll be sure to come to work with my 103 fever and share it with all my coworkers and patients. My mother told me if I didn't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all, so I'll move on.
We are looking forward to a quiet long weekend. T-day is at the local parentals - just 8 of us, which will be nice. Decorate and veg on Friday, maybe a train show and/ or a craft show on the weekend. I'm not brave enough to take kids out on Friday, so maybe I'll net-shop.
My brother leaves DC tomorrow for his home and terminal leave. He has been separated from his family by Uncle Sam for 17 months, hating most every minute of it. I can't believe he is finishing 20 years in the Navy in February. Wow, he's old!! Good luck with the integration - while I am sure my SIL can't wait to have help surviving this game called life, she's also gotten the house and the kids on her schedule and groove, and he's coming home to retirement. Don't you have someplace to go everyday? Do you have a job yet? Seriously, I am proud of you, Big Bro. Congratulations, and you deserve a little time off.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
It Didn't Kill Me
We did something tonight, E and I. I signed him up for an exercise class at the local rec plex. He wanted to play basketball before we left. I did play with him, and it didn't kill me. When I posted the "Accountability" post almost a month ago, we had played kickball after school several nights in a row. I hurt horribly from muscles that haven't been used. Three weeks for me at the rec plex and C-man going to the daycare in the mornings hasn't killed me! I *almost* like it. C can go to E's exercise class next week - I did't realize he was old enough - and maybe they'll both come home tired enough to sleep! The scale hasn't budged - I do like to eat - but I feel better, and maybe I will train with E in the spring for his race.
Sleep
Sleep... where art thou?
It all stopped when Evan was about 2 1/2. Halloween was the beginning of the end of peaceful nights. He became scared of everything, and it hasn't stopped yet. He spent many months of the 2nd pregnancy sleeping on our most uncomfortable hardwood floor, including with his head under the cradle when Colby was born. He even got gently kicked a few nights of those 2 am feedings. He didn't care. Last year, Halloween, Fire Safety and Drug Awareness week all happened at the same time. Before it was done, I told our doc that he needed to medicate one of us, as we were both up for an hour or so several times every night, scared, unable to go back to sleep, afraid of everything. We had many talks about the house burning down, us dying in the fire, him having to get Colby out and breaking the window, who would take care of them, that yes, Uncle Ed would bring them back to our town to visit family and friends, and he would remember to call g'ma and she would pick them up from the cornfield airstrip - a whole spiraling story that he fixated on. A few days ago, he walked into our bedroom while Tom was watching CSI and caught maybe 3 minutes of it. The last 2 nights, we are back to taking forever (literally, over an hour with him laying in bed in the dark, before I handed it over to Tom) to fall asleep because he is scared. Tom was in the living room, just outside of their bedroom door, and had to go to the bathroom. Evan thought Tom had left him and gone to bed. He burst out crying, terrified, with huge alligator tears. Yes, we did everything wrong as parents according to Spock and T. Berry Brazleton, and almost 7 years later, we are still paying for it. I nursed him to sleep for a year, held and rocked him until I couldn't move his 50 lb bootie from the glider to his bed, and am doing it still with Colby. He's got a sippie of water, flashlight, stuffed dog, sound machine with birds chirping all night long (his sound preference), the ceiling fan humming, and his brother in their room together. Last year we even tried several weeks of Benadryl on school nights. Didn't help. I'm sure he won't be waking up when he's 16 wanting to crawl into our bed (some high school girl maybe...), but I'd like to sleep several nights in a row before then, without an elbow or knee in my back. All those things I thought were awful before I had children - the things I swore my kids would never do - an adult sleeping in the basement and 2 kids and an adult in a king size bed really doesn't sound so bad at this point in my life. Co-bedding is an evolutionary mechanism. If we can't procreate, there is no competition for the existing children.
My whine for the day. Should have taken a nap instead of cleaning the gutters, but there were trees growing from the gutters on the garage. Maybe we'll all sleep better tonight.
It all stopped when Evan was about 2 1/2. Halloween was the beginning of the end of peaceful nights. He became scared of everything, and it hasn't stopped yet. He spent many months of the 2nd pregnancy sleeping on our most uncomfortable hardwood floor, including with his head under the cradle when Colby was born. He even got gently kicked a few nights of those 2 am feedings. He didn't care. Last year, Halloween, Fire Safety and Drug Awareness week all happened at the same time. Before it was done, I told our doc that he needed to medicate one of us, as we were both up for an hour or so several times every night, scared, unable to go back to sleep, afraid of everything. We had many talks about the house burning down, us dying in the fire, him having to get Colby out and breaking the window, who would take care of them, that yes, Uncle Ed would bring them back to our town to visit family and friends, and he would remember to call g'ma and she would pick them up from the cornfield airstrip - a whole spiraling story that he fixated on. A few days ago, he walked into our bedroom while Tom was watching CSI and caught maybe 3 minutes of it. The last 2 nights, we are back to taking forever (literally, over an hour with him laying in bed in the dark, before I handed it over to Tom) to fall asleep because he is scared. Tom was in the living room, just outside of their bedroom door, and had to go to the bathroom. Evan thought Tom had left him and gone to bed. He burst out crying, terrified, with huge alligator tears. Yes, we did everything wrong as parents according to Spock and T. Berry Brazleton, and almost 7 years later, we are still paying for it. I nursed him to sleep for a year, held and rocked him until I couldn't move his 50 lb bootie from the glider to his bed, and am doing it still with Colby. He's got a sippie of water, flashlight, stuffed dog, sound machine with birds chirping all night long (his sound preference), the ceiling fan humming, and his brother in their room together. Last year we even tried several weeks of Benadryl on school nights. Didn't help. I'm sure he won't be waking up when he's 16 wanting to crawl into our bed (some high school girl maybe...), but I'd like to sleep several nights in a row before then, without an elbow or knee in my back. All those things I thought were awful before I had children - the things I swore my kids would never do - an adult sleeping in the basement and 2 kids and an adult in a king size bed really doesn't sound so bad at this point in my life. Co-bedding is an evolutionary mechanism. If we can't procreate, there is no competition for the existing children.
My whine for the day. Should have taken a nap instead of cleaning the gutters, but there were trees growing from the gutters on the garage. Maybe we'll all sleep better tonight.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Results
It's official! Obama wins, at least in first grade. 18-4 was the final count, with 100% of the students in attendance voting, only once. The voting officials assured us that no dead people voted. There were no problems or even long lines reported at the polling place, except for the incident where Susie kissed Jimmy, and Johnny pulled her ponytail.
I'll just be glad to see Merry Stinkin' Greedy Materialistic I-Need-That-Toy Christmas commercials instead of campaign ads. I'm a little crabby - our county finally sent out property taxes, due in December and January. Bah humbug, that messes up the Christmas cash flow. At least we've already got the big Santa gift for the kids- I love it when he delivers early. Just wish Wii could get it out and use it...
I'll just be glad to see Merry Stinkin' Greedy Materialistic I-Need-That-Toy Christmas commercials instead of campaign ads. I'm a little crabby - our county finally sent out property taxes, due in December and January. Bah humbug, that messes up the Christmas cash flow. At least we've already got the big Santa gift for the kids- I love it when he delivers early. Just wish Wii could get it out and use it...
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