I Am the Sun

Being the mother of small children is like being the sun in a very noisy and chaotic solar system of child-planets. Wherever I am, they find me and revolve around me. I did an experiment to prove it this morning.

Charlie woke up and was in our room, on my side of the bed, at 6:31 this morning. We came downstairs. He sat on the heating vent. I went into the bathroom to get dressed. He was at the bathroom door within ten seconds, telling me something about his toy sheep through the bathroom door.

We went into the living room.

Cubby came downstairs and joined us in the living room.

I went into the kitchen to make coffee. Thirty seconds later, both boys came barreling into the kitchen in search of money. (Cubby had found a dime somewhere and Charlie wanted one too.)

I sat down by the woodstove. They sat down on the floor at my feet to toast their backs and fight over the coveted dime.

I got up to get my coffee and repositioned myself in the chair in the bay window. They both came charging into the living room to fight over the heating vent.

I got back up to get more coffee and sat down in front of the woodstove. They both sat on the floor in front of the woodstove again, in Cubby's case to draw, and in Charlie's case to irritate his brother.

I know there will come a time when I will miss the days when they followed me wherever I went. Though at the moment, I sort of wish I could just drink my coffee without arbitrating any disputes.

The Poor, Photographically Neglected Third Child

I don't post enough baby pictures, do I? That's what I thought. Brace yourselves.

It's a box! Must climb in it!

Except . . . how does one climb out of a box?

Hello there, Baby Blue Eyes.

Coming in for a closer look at the camera . . .

Getting a little too close there, Jack . . .

And this is when he knocked me over.

There. I feel better now. Don't you?

Keeping on the Sunny Side*

A rough night with Jack last night meant that I was sound asleep when Charlie came crashing in our door at 6:30 this morning. So instead of getting up before everyone else to get my exercise over with and have some quiet time, I instead shuffled downstairs in my pajamas and got dressed quickly while Charlie chattered at me through the bathroom door.

But!

This meant that I was not doing push-ups at 5 a.m. And Charlie quickly immersed himself in building a train track in the living room while I drank my coffee by the woodstove in the dining room.

A. has night court tonight and the MiL has a meeting, leaving me with three small boys--at least one of whom (Cubby) will be quite peeved that Daddy is absent--who must be fed and entertained until their bedtime by me alone.

But!

This means that I can make anything I want for dinner, without having to think too hard about things such as large quantities of meat or vegetables everyone will eat. I pretty much will eat anything the children enjoy, so . . . carrot sticks with Lazy Sloppy Joes in purchased pita bread it is! (Lazy Sloppy Joes are browned ground beef and chopped onion simmered with store-bought barbecue sauce, the end. Surprisingly good. And extremely easy.)

It's snowing and blowing and generally quite wintry out this morning.

But!

This is the first real wintery morning we've had this winter, in marked contrast to last year's horrendous winter weather that I had to navigate with a newborn. And the MiL was home this morning to hang out with Jack, so I didn't have to get him bundled up and carry him through the blowing snow into the preschool to drop Charlie off.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to do my delayed exercise.

But! Then I get to take a hot shower (if Jack stays asleep).

See? There's always a sunny side. Just ask my mom. And June Carter Cash.

* Do you know this song? I love this song. I like the version by June Carter Cash. It reminds me of my mother, who we have always jokingly referred to as Pollyanna, due to her relentless optimism. I was singing this song this morning, and Charlie interrupted me with, "That is a very bad song, Mommy. Sun is very bad." Oh. Guess he lives in the right place then, huh?

This Is Probably A Very Bad Idea

A few days ago, I asked the MiL to pick up some heavy cream the next time she was at the store that carries the real kind*. We usually buy a quart at a time. But this time, she found that they were half off, due to a sell-by date of the next day.

So she bought two quarts.

That's right. A half gallon of heavy cream that needed to be used rather quickly. This is a good problem to have. I'm not short on ideas of how to use it, but it is perhaps not the best complement to the exercise I've started just recently.

I currently have a very cream-heavy rice pudding on the stove. A double recipe, as a matter of fact, because I still had one entire quart of cream to use up. Not sure how long I would have to do jumping jacks to work off all that cream, but I think it would be many hours. Probably best not to think of it, actually.

Fitness sabotage of the most delicious kind, without doubt.

* Meaning NOT whipping cream, and NOT ultra-pasteurized. We have a local dairy that distributes real cream at some limited locations, and it is so much better than the crap with stabilizers and thickeners and whatever.

Highs, Lows, Who Cares

Okay, Jack. Just about over this "up-every-two-hours" phase. You, my good, tiny sir, had better start walking soon or getting those teeth through or whatever it is that's inciting you to wakefulness so frequently, because I am SO OVER IT. So is Daddy.

So tired. So tired of talking about how tired I am. So bored by it all.

Hey! I started the 30-Day Shred again this weekend! WHEE. My workout clothes have once again taken up permanent residence in the downstairs bedroom and I am once again reminded that I can't do pushups worth a damn. Also, this time around I have a non-walking child that requires a lot of carrying still, so that incredible start-up soreness is EXTRA FUN.

I seem to be into the all-caps today. Sorry about that. BUT NOT REALLY.

Just heard Charlie come downstairs. Have to go care for some children now. Supposed to snow all day. Good times ahead. (And no complete sentences, apparently.)

Peace out.