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By Moriah on September 8th, 2008
I think my ‘dry-clean-only’ clothes are out to get me. (Which, as a mother of young children, are few and far between.) First, a dress I had just picked up from the cleaners was the one I was wearing when the wasp stung me. Some of the venom got into the fabric and every time it touched my skin, I felt like I was being stung again. Back to the cleaners it went. (So much for getting a few wears out of it first.)
Then today, I pulled another skirt out of the plastic to wear to church, only to have my kids bump my arm and send my communion cup flying, drenching both my skirt and Madeline’s sock.
(I’m just thankful it didn’t get Madeline’s dress or my cute, cream-based top. Those would have been infinitely worse than the skirt, which was black, even if it had just been cleaned. Again, a few uses would have been nice.)
Of all the Sundays we’ve had communion with kids (that would be four-and-a-half-years’ worth), this was the first time I’ve ever been spilled on. Which is pretty good, considering.
*****
We spent the afternoon with some friends we’ve known since college and are expecting their first baby. Oh, sweet innocence. I always get funny questions from our guy friend, such as “oh, you mean they don’t just potty-train themselves?” and “do they eat real-people food?” Today’s was: “isn’t there a rule or something that girls have to wait to get their ears pierced until they are sixteen?”
Oh, they shall be fun parents to watch. (They’ll be great, I have no doubt. I’m just glad I can be along for little bits of the ride.)
*****
You know those classic childhood stall-tactics for squeezing every possible second out of one’s bedtime routine, such as I need a drink of water, I need to go to the bathroom, and there are monsters in the closet? Drew’s become quite the master at bedtime stallage. I’m too scared to call his potty bluff and always let him take that last trip.
But it’s the end of the day, I’m tired as it is. And then when the excuses start to multiply, my patience runs low and my blood pressure high. Add in the fact that Andy is now working the evening shift and I get to do the whole jolly charade by myself, well, we have ourselves a recipe for disaster. And yelling. Lots of yelling.
I believe I have found a solution, however. Friday night I put the baby to bed (she’s easy, not having figured out how to climb out of her crib yet), and told Drew and Madeline to get in my bed for stories. (Usually I’m so exhausted I fly through a couple of books on the couch or floor, sneak in a skipped page or two here and there, and get them in bed as fast as I can before I collapse or my brain goes numb.)
We made it through several books rather leisurely, relaxing and letting them sort of ease into bedtime. Then I turned out the light. They like me to scratch their backs (or, as Drew says, “shrack his back”) and draw circles on their faces with the tip of my finger. We laid there together for a while, just breathing and calming down from the busyness of the day. (Andy’s better at doing this, but now it’s completely up to me.)
A little while later, I placed each child in their beds, still awake (as usual), but peaceful and sleepy. Content. Still. And you know what? Not once did they get out of bed. Not even Drew, which is a minor miracle.
(Makes me think all those bedtime excuses really were just a ploy for water attention.)
8 Responses to “Write a title, win a prize”
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Aah, yes. We are good friends with The Most Essential Chilldown. Longterm implications.
Oh it is so fun to watch childless couples enter the world of parenthood, isn’t it? And the dry-cleanable clothes… BTDT. It’s almost pointless.
Ah. That’s sweet.
I play the piano at our church, so the elder has to find a place to put the bread (tasteless wafer) and the cup, while I’m playing. One elder once placed the smooth wafer on the curvy keyboard cover. It promptly slid down into the piano innards. We never have found it. The piano ate my communion wafer!
Remember in college when I fell asleep during communion with wine cup in hand, and then jerked awake, throwing my cup all the way across the aisle and covering Steve with wine? Not one of my grander moments.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had communion wine spilled on me…how have you escaped this until now???
I think I would cry if I knew I had to do bedtime by myself every.single.night–and my kids are much older than yours.
Hope your week is off to a good start!
Caleb’s been our expert bedtime extender, but as of late Alice is learning too. This wind down time is such a great idea, and sounds very snuggly and a great way to end the day. Too often I’m so wiped I sing a song as fast as possible and pray even faster. If we could all snuggle a bit in our bed together, yeah that sounds nice. Thanks for posting this, I’m going to try it!
oops somehow I missed putting in my name. I guess I’m tired!
mom’s spilled her grape juice all over me twice now. and both times i was wearing white..
ha ha =P