Skip to main content

Sugar and Spice


 When you welcome a new baby into your family, especially when you already have older kids, it can almost feel more like (please don't take this the wrong way) adding a pet.  You have this new human who has needs and definitely affects your lifestyle, but he/she isn't adding thoughts or opinions yet to the daily family routine.  They count, but they don't really get a say in things.  I realize that we can’t stay in this phase forever, but I am not sure I am ready for what comes next.  

As our girls move away from the early days of "mad and inconsolable" to "opinions with some words," I can safely say they have kept us on our toes from day one.  Now that we are on our way to the next developmental stage please, dear Lord, let it be an easy one.  

Tonight, let's just be honest, we ae still fighting the bedtime blues.  I may have been a little too excited to put them to bed.  I may have started the whole routine a little too early.  That's on me.  Nonetheless, I was committed.  I said good night, and they are expected to stay in their own beds.  They can look at books or play with babies, it just can't get too rowdy.  Inevitably, somebody gets up and we have to go through the process of getting them back in bed.  

The first few times they got up tonight, I put them back in bed and used a stern voice to tell them they needed to stay there.  I was hoping they'd take me seriously.  By the sixth round, I was annoyed.  I went in the room and saw nobody.  "Girls!  Get in bed!"  I said a little too loudly.  Suddenly, Carter's head popped out from under her sister's bed.  She didn't make a sound, but had a huge cheeseball grin.  I pulled her the rest of the way out from under the bed and Emerson rolled out after her.  They both got my full, "In bed!" speech, and I walked out of the room still feeling frustrated.  

As I closed the door I heard Emerson say, "Love you..." in the sweetest two-year-old voice she could conjure.  I couldn't help but laugh.  She's such a little manipulator, and I know it, but it totally works anyway.  See?  Can you see why I'm afraid?  We have Carter full of cheese and Emerson full of sugar.  We are doomed.        


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pink Stinks

Our girls, like most four-year-old girls, love pink.  And purple.  And sparkly things, unicorns, butterflies, lizards and cats.  But especially pink.  Their brothers aren't so fond of pink.  They prefer the color dirt.  I know this because it's what they have chosen for the color of our walls, windows, light switches and their socks.   "Do you like pink?"  Emerson asked Fischer one day not long ago. "No." "Why?" "Because pink stinks !" Cue 'angry tears and screaming.' This of course delighted her brother who began using the line anytime he wanted to see her cry.  Which was often.  It didn't change her passion for the color, however.  She still demanded the pink plate, pink cup, pink shirt, pink shoes, and pink gum if she had the choice.  Because pink is the best when you're four.   Fast forward a couple of weeks.  The girls were collecting pieces of garbage off the van floor.  Why?  I don't know, b...

Triple Threat

 People think we are raising twins, but they're wrong.  We actually have triplets: Emerson, Carter, and Carterror.  It's true.  Carterror doesn't hang around often, but when the days are long and naps have been missed, she comes out swinging.   Today, when we should have been napping, we ran errands.  We needed some grain for our cows, so before picking up the boys from school, we stopped at the feed store.  The girls spent a little time looking at all the fish, birds, and pets they have for sale.  Immediately, after telling them not to touch the tanks, Carter tried to go fishing.  That's when I realized Carterror had arrived.  I called her name to stop her and realized her shirt was exceptionally lumpy.   "What's in there?" I asked, pointing to her newly developed bosom.   "My kitty," she replied, pulling out a stuffed cat from her sweatshirt.  A minute later, we were walking down an isle of bovine parapher...

Fear Factor

 Did you know that it has been not  scientifically proven that a baby can smell her mother's presence through a closed door.  It's probably the smell of fear that they are actually attuned to, but nonetheless.  I hold my breath and walk on tiptoe past the baby's room and still get busted nearly every time.  My fear is pungent. Besides waking the babies, I have another fear currently in the forefront of my mind.  Don't mind me, this is just another episode of True Confessions.. .  Here it is: the boys are getting so much outside time that they are building up incredible endurance.  It's great really, but it is   becoming  so hard to wear them out. It used to be an hour at the playground and we were golden.  Now, they basically put in an eight-hour workday, and it's just a warm-up!  Does anybody have a treadmill....?  Real school is going to be a bit of an adjustment for the big guy next fall.    Speaking of s...