And when I mean brutal I mean nights in which the boys refused to even lay in their new beds preferring instead to wander aimlessly throughout their room, wailing for hours until they collapsed from blinding exhaustion (no, they will not permit us to rock or soothe them to bed), to be proceeded by what can only be described as night terrors, and THEN 12 hour days in which no nap occurred despite the utilization of every sleep charming trick in the book (short of whiskey). All that sleep depravation could only lead to days upon days of explosive, unpredictable, inconsolable tantrums (them, not me).
It was bad.
You don't always get the full impact of having two kids the same age until they are mean, angry little kids that have a full on conniption every time you so much as walk across the room in a direction that displeases them. Then it's just ugly.
The good news is that in a stroke of sheer genius (yes, I said genius) I decided to move Sophia's bed into the boy's room. Can you say brilliant?!?! Now she's not alone at night (which she just luvs) and we have a safety monitor in the room to keep the running into walls PLUS she has been known to say "Okay babies, Time to sleep. Get into your beds NOW!" And they do. Ha! I knew having a child with the personality of a Marine Drill Instructor would pay off one way or another. Naps, or "quiet time" as we like to call it around here, have worked out better when Sophia is back in her room (we now have four toddler beds set up in our house) and admittedly the boys still play for an hour or so before they drop to sleep by the door but hey, at least everyone's napping again right?
Last night I was able to tuck three sweet babies into warm, cozy beds, read Good Night Moon, whisper prayers and kiss three little heads good night and then just walk out with no protesting, screaming or crying following me out. What more could you ask for?
So what was the point of all that? Oh yea.. with three well rested children at home it's good to be me.
BECAUSE I am super mom. Yup, super mom. I realize I shouldn't brag or define myself as simply "Mom" (quick shot out to all the feminist out there) but seriously I am good. How many people would brave taking two one year olds (who are probably closer to a one year old level verbally and cognitively but a three year old level physically) and their "high spirited" four year sister on a 90 minute grocery store expedition AND then find the wherewithal to turn it into a math/science/vocabulary/history/nutrition lesson. Raise your hand. Just awful to sound so self-important but life's too hard not to shout your own praises from time to time, right? And in truth it is still such a challenge to take them all out that I always feel so good after a successful outing. Even better if I get the Oh-please-tell-me-you're-babysitting-and-they're-not-ALL-yours looks. Just confirms what I already know. Yes, dammit they are ALL mine. And despite taking an entire morning to do what might have taken an hour without little kids in tow, it's still good to be me.
Because yesterday I worked hard, did projects, cleaned house, organized, did laundry, decorated for Christmas, scrubbed toilets but TODAY I have time to sit. And read. And write. And just enjoy.
Definitely good to be me today.
