teething

We often share traits with our children. My youngest child and I are in sync most of the time, yet his joie de vivre for waking in the early morning hours is never one of those moments. 

There was a period of time when I told myself I didn't mind so much because he was a wee baby and he needed me to provide comfort when he was teething or going through a growth or developmental spurt. Now, 19 months in, it has become obvious that he is, quite simply, half boy-half rooster. 

To have a child that is late to bed and early to rise means there are infringements upon my "kid-free" time. To be honest, I don't require a lot of time to myself. We really do enjoy our kids, but this child brings with him weeks upon weeks of teething that leaves for little rest. It leaves this mother quite worn. My ability to process the world around me is affected by the sleeplessness...and it makes me a little, umm, prickly.

My home feels like the creative force that is childhood threw up in every corner of the house. I looked down the other day and discovered that at some point in the week a dried cranberry met it's match under the rolling wheel of my office chair and now remains a filthy little trail of dust, fuzz and cat hair casually weaved in amongst the stickiness that was once fruity goodness. Sigh...

Oh, and he also freed the cards in my wallet from their organizational prison. The good news in this is that I was confident my Visa was not stolen, but just temporarily AWOL. Two weeks later and I caught him sliding another card through the little slots between the drawers of a dresser. VOILA...inside were the stack of missing cards!

I spoke with a friend this week who is also in a demanding season of life and feels as though circumstances have kept her from being able to tend to her family's needs. I laughed when I discovered that the one thing I could do to lend a hand is to vacuum her floor. Her floors were dirty, but they were not covered in toys...it was a a pleasant vacuuming experience for me! It's funny how something so seemingly mundane can alter a woman's mood.

Then there is the little known fact that there are women who take showers for one of two reasons, they need to rinse their hair after they colour it, OR the shower needs to be cleaned. They can tackle personal hygiene and chores in one fell swoop. You've done this haven't you?!

I don't think much will change in this house in the next few years.  Life will continue to busy from little bodies, I will probably still be tired, my dining room will have a perpetual road map of flattened cranberries and cat hair, and my daughter will continue to ask, "why do you always have red lines in your eyes?"

~Kirsty