Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Beautifully Put

Oh my god! Two posts in one day! Is there a babysitter involved?

No, I'm just skipping my nap to enjoy the blessed silence of a house filled with sleeping children. And using my time to chop up vegetables and put pretzels into individual serving size packages. Or I'm surfing the net, reading all the blogs that I love and pretending that one day I will be as talented as these other writers.

And in doing that I found myself in awe over what Ms. Heather Armstrong of dooce had to say about getting mentally healthy. Please go here to read her take on this topic. It's what I would have written...if I was as smart and funny as she is.

Supermom...Or Not

Honestly, I've been feeling a bit like Supermom the last few weeks. Granted it's Supermom by my standards that are, let's face it, not terribly high. But Quake is getting to preschool mostly on time. I'm almost done Christmas shopping. I take a shower almost every day. And despite some moments of panic at 7pm, no one in the house has had to wear dirty clothes in the morning because Mommy didn't get the laundry done.

There's a huge list of things that aren't getting done, but I'm focusing on the positive. The positive says I'm a Supermom!

Then Thursday afternoon Cha-Cha started to get fussy. He napped fitfully. By the time I got dinner on the table, he was screaming non-stop. Monkey Man and I took turns pacing with him for about 30 minutes before Monkey Man asked if he could make up a bottle of formula. I agreed, convinced the child wouldn't take the bottle because he wouldn't take the breast, ergo he must not be hungry.

Or...I could be running on empty.

Cha-Cha sucked down 4 ounces of formula in about 2 minutes and then drifted off into an exhausted sleep. I was devestated. Once I got the hang of the breastfeeding thing with Quake, I could have fed a village. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't be producing enough milk for Cha-Cha.

Clamping down tears, I asked my mil what could possibly be wrong. She looked me straight in the eye and said, "You're doing too much." From a woman who generally seems to think I'm a lazy bum, that's a kicker. So I'm hanging up my cape and declaring an end to my Supermom days. I'm busy feeding my baby...

Sunday, December 9, 2007

My New Identity

When it comes to my preschooler, I've turned into Snappy McBitchy. Every time I hear his voice ringing through the house with, "Momma?" it's like fingernails on a chalkboard.

I've spent some time feeling very gulity about not giving him enough attention, but then I realized that he's getting more attention than usual. Monkey Man and I both are going out of our way to spend alone time with Quake, but he's suddenly turned into a bottomless pit of need. I know it's because of the baby. I know it's because he feels threatened and wants us all to himself. Knowing that makes it no less annoying.

And using my very best whine, "It's hard to be this tired and be nice too!" Yeah, yeah, life's hard; suck it up.

At least he's growing up in a house that will be supportive of his therapy.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Of Pop-Tarts and Potty Breaks

On hearing the news about the birth of my second son, one of my friends responded by saying, "Two boys!? You're going to be so thin!" Leaving aside the feeling that my weight has suddenly dropped to one of the last priorities in my life, I see her point. Chasing two high energy boys around is sure to blast through amazing amounts of calories.

But I'm guessing it won't do me any good unless I manage to eat something besides Pop-Tarts and McDonald's.

What I really love are all those articles on healthy eating that recommend prepping healthy snacks ahead of time so they're just as easy to grab as, say, that 5th Pop-Tart and 2nd soda of the day. Not that I actually eat like that. Not every day.

One tiny prolem with this method. It assumes that you lack time as you're running out the door (or as your newborn is screaming to be nursed, etc.), but that you can fit this activity into your schedule at some other time. I know things will not always be this crunched, but right now I don't have extra time...ever.

And even if I do manage to find myself with 45 minutes alone on Sunday afternoon, I will not be in the kitchen chopping veggies and dividing pretzels into individual serving size portions. I will be filling those precious moments with all the excitement of napping, or cutting my nails, or maybe even going to the bathroom...by myself! Just thinking about that is enough to get me through the next 15 minutes.