NB! This post was supposed to go live last week, but thanks to preggy brain, it didn’t. So pay no attention to the fact that the timing is all out. Let’s just pretend it’s last week Wednesday, when all kids were still on holiday and all was peaceful.
What last few things, you may ask? Well, there’s savouring the last of the holidays – yes my kids are still at home on holiday. I, unfortunately, headed back three days ago…and whilst I’ll always be grateful for my job, and the kind of contribution and value impact that my job has in the provincial community in the whole value chain, I’m getting more twitchy about how much more time I actually just want with my kids.
Like seriously, even if I could just a get a job that’s maybe like 9am till 2pm – that’d be near perfect- I could do so much more with my kids and my time. As opposed to my current schpiel: leave all my sleeping babies at the crack of dawn only to return to squeeze in a tiny slice of playtime, make dinner, then dinner itself and bath and bedtime. All of which is done on a very tired and stressed out mommy brain. It’s truly become a daily personal challenge of mine trying to be present with them everday. Sometimes I’m so there, other times I fail dismally at it, and race to get them into bed before tired, snappy dragon mommy emerges. But I guess that’s what makes holidays that much more special and truly worthy of savouring every last bit of it. And that’s exactly what we’ve being doing…
We’ve also been savouring the last few days of my big girl BEFORE she hits big school with grade R! This also includes “savouring” just how poorly I’d score in the admin area, cause I truly suck at paper work, guys, and am probably not making the best of impressions to the new school – what with clocking well over a dozen reminders in my inbox from the school of how tardy I am with some paperwork. (But, I’m really a good mom, I promise!!) In fact, last year, we had our first PTA at the school – what an amazing set of teachers and principal, as well as our first home visit. (yes, they visit your child in their own environment. So Im hoping that counts all in our favour.)
She looks so sweet here, right?
But her new teacher arrived just before supper time, so was faced with a super hypreactive Morgy, who hardly had time to talk in between shoving overloaded handfuls of popcorn into her face hole, and running around the house with her stick dragon like the crazy that she is with her equally crazy little sister, weilding their swords with great passion.
She answered all the questions while on the run, and only stood still to take the teacher through her various facial expressions – thanks kid, you’ve really shown the teacher and me who rules the roost here. *sigh* (It’s food by the way. Food rules. Just like her mama she cannot be reasoned with until you feed her. I get you, sunshine!) Thankfully the teacher found this all positive, and reassured me that she and Morgy were going to get along just fine.
So until her school starts, my nerves are not flaring up at all, my mom feels are pretending like they’re not just bubbling under the surface, and Im focussed on the logistics! Cause I may well and truly suck at paper work, but by God, will she have the rest sorted – outfit, lunchbox, and that whole “go sprinkle your sunshine and kindness all over them, babygirl” peptalk I always send her out with.
We’re also savouring the last few months of this one being the baby…
But in truth, she’s not ready to give up that title just yet. According to her, she’s not parting , like ever, with her cot. (I’ve asked but what happens when you’re too big for it, and she has confidently answered that she will just stop growing then, “I’ll stop gwowing and I’ll nevah be too big!” (Cue scowling eyebrows, and arms folded in a huff.) She’s not even close to ready to give up her baby chair. I thought by now she’d have ditched it, but every dinner/lunch time at the table, she insists on sitting the chair. Those long dangly legs of her’s struggling to fold in and out of it, but she refuses a proper chair at the table. And don’t, oh for love of all that is good in this world, don’t ever say she’s a big girl. She’ll smack you one way from Tuesday about how she’s still “so small and only a baby”…She has however, finally budged on being upgraded to a “big baby” now. We’re getting there, folks. Baby steps, as such…
But in truth, I am soaking it all up…her babyness… I can’t believe it’s been more than three years already.
And then similarly, we’re soaking up the last bits of only have two children before we’re hit with the pure craziness of three kids.
Yeah sure, we’ve still some time to prepare- August is still a way down in this calendar, but still, Lord knows how time flies! And it’s even faster when you have 3 kids, I can imagine! So for the next few months, we’re savouring how “easy” life is right now with two kids that are fairly independant. No nappies, no breastfeeding, no lugging around of formula, not too much of your life revovling around naps (although, truth be told, as someone who’s serious about healthy sleep habits for our kids, I still remain aware of managing my kids’ sleep and mental thresholds when going without a nap for the day.)But you get what I mean!
This is a completely different life from the one we led about a year ago. It was like a new era we stepped into (one I wrote about but never published) An era of no babies in the home at a given time (dont tell parker)…Little girls who’ve become so independant, and arent super needy anymore, so much so that you can have your nice hot cuppa tea and disconnect while they engage in imaginative play in their toy corner…I’d almost forgotten about that state of being! And yet, here we are, happily stepping back into that crazy pond yet again…Mind you, we’re not spring chickens anymore either – having kids in your late thirties is something else. So this will be a completely new kind of chapter unfolding for us…And if God is unfolding this path for us, then it is certainly one I’ll happily tap dance along on…
It is after all one of my dreams and deep desires – to have a big family (three is not big in my books, by the way, so let’s see how it goes)…And it’s also a dream Mike knows and agrees with (as discussed on our first date – YIKES! Yes, children were discussed on first date! So you’d be less suprised that we actually wanted to get married after only just dating less than a month! #truestory) I just pray God holds this dream tightly for us…And holds us too! We’re going to need it ! 🙂
I can totally relate on wanting a big family and having a child when you’re not a spring chicken anymore lol (it’s one of my concerns with wanting a third). Everything will work out, I’m sure. And your girls will give you, like 5 minutes once a week to have that cuppa tea while they’re playing in the toy corner 😀
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