I am pleased to note that this will officially be my SECOND posting of Spring 2007; a feat I'm sure you will both appreciate (There's a little Car Talk humor for you). There is so much news and so little news all at the same time, but if you are still reading I will assume that you are fascinated with the minutae of our lives and carry on.
With the warmer weather, Jason has been extremely busy, working 6 day weeks and extra long days. I find myself at home in a perpetual cycle of breakfast, clean up, play, lunch, clean up, nap, outing, snack, dinner, clean up, bed time for kiddos, laundry, bed time for me. I will admit it was novel at first after college and miscellanous jobs to be a homemaker. And I am certainly not complaining; I want to stress that in this day and age when people work for the money to pay people to raise their children (not by choice) I consider myself very fortunate to get to spend these toddler years with my little ones. That said - I just want to say that it's really hard work. The roles of wife and mother are difficult enough when you add up the tangible responsibilties like cooking, cleaning, shopping, budgeting, laundry etc., but I find it's the grey areas that really cause the most consternation. Is it my job to make everyone happy? No, not in the sense that anyone expects it of me, but do I really have a choice about whether I make it my responsibility? Absolutely not - it naturally flows from the other jobs that are expected of me. But by the same token, do I get any credit for keeping this crazy circus on track? Yes, if by credit you mean crumbly kisses, pocket change and grape juice stains. But the answer is no if you only count credit in terms of checklists and tally marks.
I fear this entry is turning into a giant pity party, which is not my intention at all. I sit here bewitched, bothered and bewildered at the shape my life has taken. I count myself really lucky for my sea-monkey family (just add water - instant family) and I don't humor myself for even a second that I am the first or last mama to ask these sorts of questions. Maybe the fact that I can even find the time to ponder these things means I should be doing more dusting.
Oh yeah...the kids - I promised news.
The big news is talking - crazy wonderful talking: sentences, poetry, conversations; it's amazing. The first thing that comes to mind was tonight when the girls and I were eating dinner and Jason's van pulled into the driveway. Ruthie didn't just say "dada," she said "See Dada right now!" Incredible!
Also the girls are really doing well with the potties. They are all almost accident free when they are naked and the potty is nearby. The sticking point now is that they don't mind going in their diapers so as long as they have diapers or pull ups on they will just go in them even though they know how to hold it and go in the potty. I think the next step is to move onto training pants, so that there is a real difference from the diaper and they can really get the concept of trying to use the potty even when dressed. I am not in a giant hurry though, and I don't want to rush into such a big step without a plan in place.
Really, the girls are just growing up. They can do so many things, they can tell me what they need, they can talk to each other, they can eat anything, they are in love with the world. I think my most important job right now is to take the girls to the park, even when I don't want to and read the scooper book again even when I don't want to and to get out the watercolors even when I don't want to, and even to say "no," when I don't want to. What can I say, it's a hard knock life.
Happy almost summer to all.
Lots of hugs and kisses too.
