What the world really needs is more love and less paper work.
--Pearl Bailey
A blog about a busy mom who homeschools her four children, juggles activities and housework, and still manages to find quality time to be a family.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The End of an Era
So it's no secret that Matt and I allowed our kids to sleep in our bed. Rachel did not; she was fine in her crib, we were first time parents and that was how "they" said to do it. However, when we brought Julia home (and then Ben, and then Emma)--she utterly refused to sleep anywhere but on us or next to us. We tried the bassinet, the swing, the car seat, and even a crib. However, with each one of them, they would feel the sensation of being put down and would instantly be alert. I have never understood babies who just get put down and drift off to sleep. That never worked for us. Ours needed to nurse to sleep, and then there was no way to put them down. So it was the family bed, with the infant cuddled next to me, usually nursing, and sometimes the toddler (this would be Julia when Ben was a baby and Ben when Emma was a baby) cuddled somewhere on the bed, wherever there was room.
Once they reached 7 or 8 months, we found that having them in their own bed worked fine. I would lie down and nurse them to sleep, easing out when they were down, and they'd stay that way--sometimes for only a few hours, sometimes for most of the night. But we could at least have some time to ourselves without baby in tow, and a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep. Then we'd share the bed when they woke in the night, sometimes with two (baby and toddler).
As you can imagine, this meant that we have had some rough nights in the past eight and a half years! Babies crying, toddlers thumping down the hall and wiggling in, nursing and nursing and nursing. Now that Emma has been weaned for months, we at least don't have the nursing! And Julia and Ben sleep solidly through the night. But Emma has continued to come into our bed at some point in the night even though there is no nursing involved. And after she weaned, I still let her fall asleep in my lap the way she was used to doing it--either while I was watching TV or at the computer. I would deposit her in her bed when she was asleep, and wonder when she'd come in to cuddle that night.
However, about three months ago, I told her she was getting way too big to sleep on my lap. It was hurting my back, putting my legs to sleep--sometimes I could barely stand up holding her! So we began a new routine, one that worked very well. I would read her a story, then cuddle and kiss her for a few moments with some quiet talking, and then she'd fall asleep on her own with the light on. After she fell asleep, one of us would switch the light off, leaving just the night light, and at some point in the night she'd wake and come in with us the way she always had.
Gradually I noticed she was sleeping most of the night in her bed, coming to us only rarely before 5 am. Then one night she woke when I was getting ready for bed, and I thought, here we go, now I have to stop what I'm doing and go in to settle her down again... but to my surprise, she turned, went back to her bed, flicking on the light when she passed the switch, cuddled back into bed, and promptly fell back asleep!
Then last night, I woke during a huge thunderstorm, thinking it was maybe only 2 or 3 o'clock. (It didn't feel like I'd been asleep very long!) The rain made me decide I'd better head for the bathroom, and to my surprise, when I squinted at the clock it was 4:50 am! I went to the bathroom, and on the way back to my room, noticed that Emma's door was still closed, but her light was on! She'd apparently heard the thunder, too--but simply turned on her light and went back to sleep!
I am really proud of her! Most kids are scared of thunder, so for her to stay in her bed is really sweet. And yes, I could say that I miss having a little one in bed with us...but I'd be lying! I truly enjoy having it just be me, Matt and various cats. And since Emma still cuddles with me every morning (she's a late sleeper, too, which is wonderful!) it isn't as though I was missing out on being close to her.
Anyway, it just makes me happy, so I thought I'd share.
--Jen
Once they reached 7 or 8 months, we found that having them in their own bed worked fine. I would lie down and nurse them to sleep, easing out when they were down, and they'd stay that way--sometimes for only a few hours, sometimes for most of the night. But we could at least have some time to ourselves without baby in tow, and a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep. Then we'd share the bed when they woke in the night, sometimes with two (baby and toddler).
As you can imagine, this meant that we have had some rough nights in the past eight and a half years! Babies crying, toddlers thumping down the hall and wiggling in, nursing and nursing and nursing. Now that Emma has been weaned for months, we at least don't have the nursing! And Julia and Ben sleep solidly through the night. But Emma has continued to come into our bed at some point in the night even though there is no nursing involved. And after she weaned, I still let her fall asleep in my lap the way she was used to doing it--either while I was watching TV or at the computer. I would deposit her in her bed when she was asleep, and wonder when she'd come in to cuddle that night.
However, about three months ago, I told her she was getting way too big to sleep on my lap. It was hurting my back, putting my legs to sleep--sometimes I could barely stand up holding her! So we began a new routine, one that worked very well. I would read her a story, then cuddle and kiss her for a few moments with some quiet talking, and then she'd fall asleep on her own with the light on. After she fell asleep, one of us would switch the light off, leaving just the night light, and at some point in the night she'd wake and come in with us the way she always had.
Gradually I noticed she was sleeping most of the night in her bed, coming to us only rarely before 5 am. Then one night she woke when I was getting ready for bed, and I thought, here we go, now I have to stop what I'm doing and go in to settle her down again... but to my surprise, she turned, went back to her bed, flicking on the light when she passed the switch, cuddled back into bed, and promptly fell back asleep!
Then last night, I woke during a huge thunderstorm, thinking it was maybe only 2 or 3 o'clock. (It didn't feel like I'd been asleep very long!) The rain made me decide I'd better head for the bathroom, and to my surprise, when I squinted at the clock it was 4:50 am! I went to the bathroom, and on the way back to my room, noticed that Emma's door was still closed, but her light was on! She'd apparently heard the thunder, too--but simply turned on her light and went back to sleep!
I am really proud of her! Most kids are scared of thunder, so for her to stay in her bed is really sweet. And yes, I could say that I miss having a little one in bed with us...but I'd be lying! I truly enjoy having it just be me, Matt and various cats. And since Emma still cuddles with me every morning (she's a late sleeper, too, which is wonderful!) it isn't as though I was missing out on being close to her.
Anyway, it just makes me happy, so I thought I'd share.
--Jen
Sunday, August 3, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN!
Today my boy is six!
How did the time go by so quickly? It seems impossible; just yesterday he was a toddler, just a few months ago he was a newborn with big eyes looking all around but especially at me. Now he is reading, writing, playing chess, doing puzzles, playing pretend games that amuse me and astound me in equal measure. He has a loose tooth--but he still wears his baseball cap every single day! We're at four and a half years and counting for that little habit.....
Today has been a lot of fun. We got up and watched Ben open his gifts--unfortunately the camera is broken! So to my great dismay we couldn't take any photos. But I will try to have it fixed in a timely manner, or at least to get a disposable camera before birthday celebrations occur. He got Star Wars figures from Grandma B., Rachel and Julia--this was an unplanned coincidence, but he is ecstatic to have so many more and once we got home this evening he immediately started a game. Matt and I gave him a croquet set and the new Star Wars pop up book (if you haven't seen it, is a truly a work of amazing art. There are even light sabers that really glow!) both of which he has been wanting all summer. And Emma have him one of her teddy bears and drew him a card. Rachel also made him a card--she drew Yoda on it and it looks great.
We went to church and shared birthday cake there, and then headed to Port Jefferson to Fun 4All--Ben's choice. Fun 4 All is one of those big indoor play spaces with trampolines, rope bridges, slides, etc. They have a 5 floor trampoline, in fact, with slides and ramps coming off it in all directions, and they have changed a bit since we last went there and added four gigantic bouncy slides/playground structures. Julia was a bit miffed that they took out the basketball court and ball pits with slides to make room for these, but after playing on them she was singing a different tune! And I was happy to be rid of the germ fest that is a ball pit, frankly. We played there for a few hours, then headed to Vincenzo's for pizza. Then rode home (thankfully Emma stayed awake, which is a minor miracle for 6 pm after a very full day!) and played a game of croquet on the lawn before getting ready for bed.
It was a really fun day, and Ben thanked me for making his birthday wonderful before he went off to bed. With such a wonderful boy---it was easy!
--Jen
How did the time go by so quickly? It seems impossible; just yesterday he was a toddler, just a few months ago he was a newborn with big eyes looking all around but especially at me. Now he is reading, writing, playing chess, doing puzzles, playing pretend games that amuse me and astound me in equal measure. He has a loose tooth--but he still wears his baseball cap every single day! We're at four and a half years and counting for that little habit.....
Today has been a lot of fun. We got up and watched Ben open his gifts--unfortunately the camera is broken! So to my great dismay we couldn't take any photos. But I will try to have it fixed in a timely manner, or at least to get a disposable camera before birthday celebrations occur. He got Star Wars figures from Grandma B., Rachel and Julia--this was an unplanned coincidence, but he is ecstatic to have so many more and once we got home this evening he immediately started a game. Matt and I gave him a croquet set and the new Star Wars pop up book (if you haven't seen it, is a truly a work of amazing art. There are even light sabers that really glow!) both of which he has been wanting all summer. And Emma have him one of her teddy bears and drew him a card. Rachel also made him a card--she drew Yoda on it and it looks great.
We went to church and shared birthday cake there, and then headed to Port Jefferson to Fun 4All--Ben's choice. Fun 4 All is one of those big indoor play spaces with trampolines, rope bridges, slides, etc. They have a 5 floor trampoline, in fact, with slides and ramps coming off it in all directions, and they have changed a bit since we last went there and added four gigantic bouncy slides/playground structures. Julia was a bit miffed that they took out the basketball court and ball pits with slides to make room for these, but after playing on them she was singing a different tune! And I was happy to be rid of the germ fest that is a ball pit, frankly. We played there for a few hours, then headed to Vincenzo's for pizza. Then rode home (thankfully Emma stayed awake, which is a minor miracle for 6 pm after a very full day!) and played a game of croquet on the lawn before getting ready for bed.
It was a really fun day, and Ben thanked me for making his birthday wonderful before he went off to bed. With such a wonderful boy---it was easy!
--Jen
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Final Count
OK, so technically it's now Saturday, but the count officially ended at 11:52 when Rachel finally went to bed. (I'm just writing now because Matt and I were up late watching TV and talking.)
First I want to note that before the youngers were all in bed, there were 8 more utterances of my name. Then Rachel brought the count to 9 more, so the final count for approximately 15 hours of time awake with kids around me was 265!
I think that is quite impressive and proves my point admirably. Who wouldn't be annoyed at being addressed 17.6 times per hour? (On average, naturally. I am married to Matt!)
Time to sleep. I need to rest up for tomorrow's onslaught.
--Jen
First I want to note that before the youngers were all in bed, there were 8 more utterances of my name. Then Rachel brought the count to 9 more, so the final count for approximately 15 hours of time awake with kids around me was 265!
I think that is quite impressive and proves my point admirably. Who wouldn't be annoyed at being addressed 17.6 times per hour? (On average, naturally. I am married to Matt!)
Time to sleep. I need to rest up for tomorrow's onslaught.
--Jen
Friday, August 1, 2008
Another Mom Update
Well...it is now 9:00 and we are up to a whopping 248 times I have been called some form of Mother! I am not kidding, people. Is it any wonder I get irritated?!
The good news is that 3 out of 4 are on the way to bed, so there will probably only be a dozen or so more from Rachel!
--Jen
The good news is that 3 out of 4 are on the way to bed, so there will probably only be a dozen or so more from Rachel!
--Jen
Mom Update
OK, it's now 3:19 pm and the count is at 173....I had a bit of a break for a while because they watched a movie so I was off their radar. But that was balanced out a bit when I was on the phone and Emma was trying to get my attention.... (Mom, Mom, Mama, Maamaaa, Lam, Mom, Mama, Mama, Ma, etc...)
--Jen
--Jen
The Mom Count
Lately I have found myself very annoyed with how many times the kids address me personally. I find myself sometimes snapping, "WHAT?" only to be met with a sweet, "I love you, Mama..."
So I have decided to do a little experiment. I am trying to keep a count of how many times I am addressed by one of the many variations of "Mother" in one day. In my house, this list includes:
Mama
Mom
Mommy
Llama
Llama Girl
Lam (diminutive of Llama)
Llammy Lam Lam
Fama
Magi-llama
Well, you get the idea! (If anyone is confused, I think I've mentioned the game Ben and I have played for a long time where he calls me some rhyme with Mama--the most popular being Llama--and then I take that letter for his name, such as Len/Lenny...Emma has picked it up now too.)
It is now 11:23 am, and so far the count is at 37. However, it should be noted that Emma and I slept till 9:15...so that 37 would be 37 times in 2 hours.
Oh, now we're up to 41 all of a sudden.....sigh.
I'll keep you posted throughout the day! Gotta go--
--Jen
So I have decided to do a little experiment. I am trying to keep a count of how many times I am addressed by one of the many variations of "Mother" in one day. In my house, this list includes:
Mama
Mom
Mommy
Llama
Llama Girl
Lam (diminutive of Llama)
Llammy Lam Lam
Fama
Magi-llama
Well, you get the idea! (If anyone is confused, I think I've mentioned the game Ben and I have played for a long time where he calls me some rhyme with Mama--the most popular being Llama--and then I take that letter for his name, such as Len/Lenny...Emma has picked it up now too.)
It is now 11:23 am, and so far the count is at 37. However, it should be noted that Emma and I slept till 9:15...so that 37 would be 37 times in 2 hours.
Oh, now we're up to 41 all of a sudden.....sigh.
I'll keep you posted throughout the day! Gotta go--
--Jen
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