The Marek Times

Things I wish I’d known before becoming a mother…
Good moms have happy children and sticky floors!

I admit I was never the perfect housekeeper before I had kids, but now, with 2 kids, sometimes it looks like a tornado ran through our living room. There are toys everywhere. And now that Mike is “enjoying” solid foods, my floors are really taking a beating. But who has time to wash floors? There are more fun things to do. It’ll get washed eventually. Besides, if the floor is sticky, maybe Mike will stay where I put him.

Yay! It’s spring. Officially, anyway. You wouldn’t know it to look outside, but I put away my winter coat anyway. Here’s hoping I don’t freeze.

Things I wish I’d known before becoming a mother…
That I would be constantly late.

I used to be early for everything. It was almost impossible for me to be late. Sometimes I’d be super-early and have to sit around and wait. Now, with 2 kids, I’m lucky if I’ve left by the time I’m supposed to be there. This morning for example. At 4:30 am, Mike woke up. I struggled to be awake enough to feed him. Then at 6, I slept through my alarm. At 6:45, I finally dragged my butt out of bed – late already. We managed to get out of the house by 7:45 – which is the time we should be dropping Ben off (at the latest). By the time we dropped Ben off, Mike had overloaded his diaper, so we had to stop and do an emergency change and seat-cleaning. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly early for work. And now I feel like I’m permanently behind, trying to catch up. Sigh. Tomorrow will be better, right?

The silly part is, this was a fairly normal morning. I could understand being late if something unexpected happened. But even the poop-splosion is typical at this point. I’m not sure what is taking so long, but getting us out the door now requires at least an hour and a small miracle…

Things I wish I’d known before becoming a mother:
That every bag and coat pocket from now on would hold a secret supply of cheerios, cookies and crackers.

And I’ll add sand to that. As the snow melts, I can feel it coming. The sand. So much sand. We live in the prairies, not the beach. And yet still, there’s so much sand. Last summer it was a daily chore to empty out running shoes, pants cuffs and coat pockets. We dumped the running shoes on the porch every day, and the pile of sand slowly built up. This year, we could potentially build our own beach. If I get a kiddy pool for the back yard, and empty the sand back there too, it’ll be heaven! I’ll be able to visit the beach anytime I want.

Ok, I’m getting carried away. But that’s what happens when you have these crazy, long, cold winters. It’s finally melting out there. Spring – here we come!

Things I wish I’d known before becoming a mother…
That my heart would hurt every time my children got sick.

This winter has been terrible. I think Ben has caught every virus possible in the last 5 months. I feel so bad for him. He’s missed a ton of school. I hope he gets better soon. I know it’s just a cold, but I worry anyway. I know he’ll be fine and it’s not like when Marek was sick, but sometimes it’s hard not to freak out when his temperature climbs. And I really should have bought shares in Kleenex, Purell and Advil. I’m convinced we’re single-handedly keeping those businesses afloat.

Things I wish I’d known before becoming a mother…
Sleep when the baby sleeps.

Actually, I did know this one. Everyone tells you this. And it makes good sense. But it’s not that simple. Sometimes I need to shower. Or go to the bathroom. This is most easily accomplished while he’s sleeping in those first few weeks. And what happens if your wonderful baby who slept perfectly through the night, suddenly stops? And now he wakes up 2-3 times to eat? And does “sleep when the baby sleeps” mean also that you should be awake when he’s awake? What if he wants to be awake at 4 am? Mike decided at 4 this morning that he was up. Very up. He wanted to play and laugh and babble. This does not work for me at 4 am. I can’t very well “sleep when he sleeps” if he decides to sleep in the afternoon instead of at night. I’m at work. My co-workers do not approve of me sleeping at my desk. All I can say in my defense is “I was up at 4!”

Mike is 7 months old today!

Things I wish I’d known before becoming a mother…
That sleeping through the night means 4-5 hours.

Mike must be having a growth spurt. He’s waking up every 3 hours again to eat. He used to sleep so well from 10:30 – 6 am. Now, I’m up at 1 and 4. Doesn’t he know mommy needs sleep???

Things I wish I’d known before becoming a mother…
That some days, my life would revolve around bodily fluids.

All together now: EWWWWWW!!!! And how is it that the boys manage to be so coordinated? One vomits and the other has explosive diapers. All at the same time!!!