Today I had the extra special pleasure of working from home. While that sounds like a great job perk, I neglected to mention one small detail. I was working from home while my three young children, all 4and under, were home from day care thanks to a teacher training day.
The first time I knew I would be in for a challenging day came when my 4 year old son snuck into my bedroom at 3 a.m. and nearly gave me a heart attack. Fast asleep, I suddenly heard the bedroom door open and could see no one entering. Of course, it wasn't until he was right next to my face that I realized I had a tiny intruder in my midst. After recovering from my near fatal heart attack, my son climbed into bed and demanded a drink of water. He explained he was thirsty because he had a bad dream- I guess his dream took place in a desert. BLeary-eyed and blinded by the darkness, I stumbled into the kitchen, passing my sleeping husband who dozed off on the couch, and poured my son a drink. As I trudged back to the bedroom to give him his water, he loudly exclaimed "NOT THAT CUP, MOMMY!!!" After some coaxing, lots of pleading and begging (mostly from me), he finally took the cup and fell asleep again. And I nestled back into my bed to regain whatever sense of sleep I had left in me.
The next harbinger of my day to come was my darling husband who thought he would forewarn me in case his alarm went off. His warning came at 6 a.m. in the form of a very loud bang as he dropped a few things looking for his cell phone. Thanks honey; I needed that.
After finally getting out of bed and bringing the twins down, we all settled down to eat breakfast. I thought to myself, maybe it won't be that bad. Maybe they'll just play and watch TV and I can get work done. Boy, was I kidding myself.
Breakfast only fueled their energy where they proceeded to enter the living room and jump all around the furniture. I tried to get the twins to go potty because we are in the midst of this great milestone. One hour later they were finally seated watching a program when my boss called about needing something immediately. No problem; I thought, I can handle this. I am full-time working mom and I can certainly get this together enough for one day. It took only 20 more minutes before I began to see this would not be an easy one.
Sami, who tricked me and certainly did not go potty when I thought she did,had an unfortunate accident on the recliner. Making sure Caroline would not follow, I ushered her into the potty and left her there while I quickly scrambled for some upholstery cleaner. This gave Joe just enough of slip in supervision to once again begin to dump his puzzle and legos out on the floor. When I came back in from getting the cleaner, my living room was beginning to look like a sitcom spiraling out of control.
After getting them settled yet again, I tried to balance the work again. There were photographers and designers that needed to be called and projects that needed to be done. When I finally realized it was lunch time, I thought, "yes, only one more hour until nap time!" "I can make it, I can make it," I kept repeating to myself.
All three were fed easily enough and the twins went down for a nap shortly after. Joe went down for a nap too - or he is at least pretending to nap and staying quiet. I can't ask for much more than that these days.
And finally, finally after all that I was able to sit and finish my work. But now I am tired and wish I could take a nap! How the heck do these stay-at-home moms do it??? I wouldn't survive one day! I can't wait to get back to the crab bucket tomorrow!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Being Thankful
Working at an agency that serves people with developmental disabilities, you often get reminded of how fragile life can be.
I remember when I was pregnant with my first child, how I avoided going down to the school where the younger children were because I didn't want that reminder. Being pregnant and facing the unknown was scary enough without facing the reality other parents who have special needs kids lived every day.
It took some time, but eventually I was fine again visiting the school and meeting children whose faces light up when they meet someone new. The children at school have a variety of disabilities - from Downs Syndrome to Autism, CP to TBI. Although it breaks my heart to see the severity of some of their disabilities, there is also profound hope and pure joy there. Today I had the pleasure of seeing the younger children perform a song for an upcoming performance.
One young girl brought me tears as I heard her sing "The Climb." She sang with such depth that there was no doubt in my mind she was thinking of her own climb up that mountain and all the trials she has been put through at such a young age. I did not cry because I pitited her; instead I cried because her singing brought joy to my heart. What ever disabilities she was born with, she had the very BIG ability to sing and stir one's soul.
So while, of course, I am very thankful that my own children were born healthy, and God-willing will always be, I am also thankful for the lessons these children teach me everyday. We may think life is hard for us because we've had a bad day at work, got stuck in traffic, or our children misbehaved. But these children have a ground-breaking day when they are able to do the simplest things we all take for granted. So be thankful for the things you have in your life and the people who fill your heart.
I remember when I was pregnant with my first child, how I avoided going down to the school where the younger children were because I didn't want that reminder. Being pregnant and facing the unknown was scary enough without facing the reality other parents who have special needs kids lived every day.
It took some time, but eventually I was fine again visiting the school and meeting children whose faces light up when they meet someone new. The children at school have a variety of disabilities - from Downs Syndrome to Autism, CP to TBI. Although it breaks my heart to see the severity of some of their disabilities, there is also profound hope and pure joy there. Today I had the pleasure of seeing the younger children perform a song for an upcoming performance.
One young girl brought me tears as I heard her sing "The Climb." She sang with such depth that there was no doubt in my mind she was thinking of her own climb up that mountain and all the trials she has been put through at such a young age. I did not cry because I pitited her; instead I cried because her singing brought joy to my heart. What ever disabilities she was born with, she had the very BIG ability to sing and stir one's soul.
So while, of course, I am very thankful that my own children were born healthy, and God-willing will always be, I am also thankful for the lessons these children teach me everyday. We may think life is hard for us because we've had a bad day at work, got stuck in traffic, or our children misbehaved. But these children have a ground-breaking day when they are able to do the simplest things we all take for granted. So be thankful for the things you have in your life and the people who fill your heart.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Surprise...It'sTwins!
You never know what life has in store for you!
Life used to be calm and organized when it was just me, my husband and our beautiful son Joe. Then when he was a little over a year old I found out I was pregnant.
A little stunned that we would soon have another addition to our family, I made the appointment to confirm the pregnancy with my ob gyn. My husband came along for the ride and when the doctor looked on the sonogram he made a quick comment about a second empty sac. I remember thinking, what could that be? After reassuring us that I was pregnant and that it was possible I might have had a blighted twin, he sent me on my way to have a more in-depth sonogram that could see if that twin was really blighted afterall.
This next part I will never forget. Mostly because I went by myself to the appointment, stupidly thinking there was no way I could be having twins, and mostly because it was the appointment that changed our lives.
My husband who was working a temp job to make ends meet while he finished graduate school, asked me to call him when I was done with the doctor. As I lay on the table, patiently waiting for the technician to finish probing my burgeoning belly, I was thinking of everything else except what she said to me next. "I clearly see two healthy hearts beating here. You are having twins." I remember thinking I must have heard her wrong. Could you please repeat that again?
"Your doctor wanted to confirm that you were having twins, right? Well, we found two healthy heart beats and you look like your about 10 weeks along."
I know 30 weeks and more was what it was going to take to make this newest development sink in. How could I be having twins when no one in my family has twins? And how am I going to tell my husband? What is he going to say? What about Joe? How is he going to adjust to having two siblings instead of just one more? And the most pressing of all - how are we going to pay for two more little mouths?
I gathered my things, thanked the technician and ran back to my car desperately trying to think how I was going to tell my husband. He doesn't do well with change - from the smallest change - how about chicken instead of fish? to a big change- why don't we trade our car and buy a new one?
Breaking the news was not going to be easy, but I mustered my strength and dialed his cell phone number. The poor bastard didn't know what hit him. The conversation went like this, "hi honey, I am leaving the doctor's office and surprise... we're having twins."
The line went quiet and I thought he passed out. But he started laughing and asked me if I was joking. After about the fifth time that I told him I wasn't joking, he finally realized I wasn't laughing with him. I could hear the wheels in his head spinning and coming to the very same questions I had just catalogued a few minutes before.
Finally, he said,"Wow, twins. That's great." Impressive. I thought he was just going to keep laughing.
Well, like I said it would take a good 30 weeks or so for the reality to finally set in that we were having twins. And sometimes, just sometimes, I wonder if reality really ever does set in when you live in the world of multiples.
It isn't always a pretty ride, and sometimes there's lots of crying and screaming (and loads of pleading from us parents) but it sure beats the alternative.
Life can be crazy and chaotic, but it's definitely double the fun, (or triple the fun in our case,) to have our beautiful children accompany us on this journey.
Life used to be calm and organized when it was just me, my husband and our beautiful son Joe. Then when he was a little over a year old I found out I was pregnant.
A little stunned that we would soon have another addition to our family, I made the appointment to confirm the pregnancy with my ob gyn. My husband came along for the ride and when the doctor looked on the sonogram he made a quick comment about a second empty sac. I remember thinking, what could that be? After reassuring us that I was pregnant and that it was possible I might have had a blighted twin, he sent me on my way to have a more in-depth sonogram that could see if that twin was really blighted afterall.
This next part I will never forget. Mostly because I went by myself to the appointment, stupidly thinking there was no way I could be having twins, and mostly because it was the appointment that changed our lives.
My husband who was working a temp job to make ends meet while he finished graduate school, asked me to call him when I was done with the doctor. As I lay on the table, patiently waiting for the technician to finish probing my burgeoning belly, I was thinking of everything else except what she said to me next. "I clearly see two healthy hearts beating here. You are having twins." I remember thinking I must have heard her wrong. Could you please repeat that again?
"Your doctor wanted to confirm that you were having twins, right? Well, we found two healthy heart beats and you look like your about 10 weeks along."
I know 30 weeks and more was what it was going to take to make this newest development sink in. How could I be having twins when no one in my family has twins? And how am I going to tell my husband? What is he going to say? What about Joe? How is he going to adjust to having two siblings instead of just one more? And the most pressing of all - how are we going to pay for two more little mouths?
I gathered my things, thanked the technician and ran back to my car desperately trying to think how I was going to tell my husband. He doesn't do well with change - from the smallest change - how about chicken instead of fish? to a big change- why don't we trade our car and buy a new one?
Breaking the news was not going to be easy, but I mustered my strength and dialed his cell phone number. The poor bastard didn't know what hit him. The conversation went like this, "hi honey, I am leaving the doctor's office and surprise... we're having twins."
The line went quiet and I thought he passed out. But he started laughing and asked me if I was joking. After about the fifth time that I told him I wasn't joking, he finally realized I wasn't laughing with him. I could hear the wheels in his head spinning and coming to the very same questions I had just catalogued a few minutes before.
Finally, he said,"Wow, twins. That's great." Impressive. I thought he was just going to keep laughing.
Well, like I said it would take a good 30 weeks or so for the reality to finally set in that we were having twins. And sometimes, just sometimes, I wonder if reality really ever does set in when you live in the world of multiples.
It isn't always a pretty ride, and sometimes there's lots of crying and screaming (and loads of pleading from us parents) but it sure beats the alternative.
Life can be crazy and chaotic, but it's definitely double the fun, (or triple the fun in our case,) to have our beautiful children accompany us on this journey.
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