Tuesday, September 13, 2011

When is your Mother coming home?

I know it is strange to admit that getting sick (although it rarely happens) has some sort of excitement in it for me.  Like it’s a valid excuse to cancel all obligations and lie in bed and watch T.V. .… Pre-Motherhood, that is.  Zachary is extremely oppositional and absolutely refuses to make me chicken noodle soup and Isabelle seems completely unable to thaw her own bottles and grasp the concept of whispering.   So, good thing I am not the one who is sick!  At least not yet.  Zachary had a fever all weekend and his world literally fell around him in shattered and devastating pieces every 17 seconds.  Is it bad that Steve and I found many of these dramatic melt downs comical? Have you ever had someone giggle when you feel like your life is ending?  Thankfully, he is on the mend, but Isabelle has a fever which I only know about because she didn’t find her brother tackling her nearly as hysterical as usual, so I thought I should check.  102.5.  So much for those beloved “breast milk antibodies”!   So, we stayed inside and put no expectations on the day. 
After puzzle number 8, book number 17, and lego house number 4, I found myself looking at the clock, shocked at how slow time was going.  It reminded me of my babysitting years.  I always felt guilty that throughout most of these jobs, I was anxiously awaiting the mother’s return.  I can remember worrying even at age 14, that maybe I would make a horrible mother because I didn’t enjoy every second with these children.  But, I told myself that it would be different with my own.  Well, for the most part it is.  But there are those days like today, that I find myself looking at the clock every 2 and half minutes wondering “When is your mother coming home?”

5 comments:

Bramos said...

Oh my gosh, I am loving this blog!! xoxo --Bekka

Anonymous said...

Funny thing.... I just completed my first week of teaching full day Kindergarten and transitional first grade, after losing the first two days of school to 6 feet of mud and water in my home. We tore out the sheet rock, took 8 loads of refuse (formerly known as the contents of my home) to the dump, power washed the 2 inches of mud out of the garage, basement, driveway, etc, rescued a 7 week old kitten from a drainpipe, and captured the minnows swimming in our basement so we could return them to the creek bed that didn't used to think it belonged in my yard. I had to pull it together and treat these 17 new students like I had actually slept in the previous five days. Well, miracle of miracles, oddly, going off to school and leaving my husband home to deal with the house was MUCH easier than staying home! Kudos to those stay at home moms who find such fulfillment in all those above mentioned moments and daily home maker tasks! I love my six children, but I was so happy to send them all to school this week! Just wait, Em! It's going to fly by so fast that these fevers, tantrums and sleepless nights will be a distant memory. You'll be a taxi driver in no time! You'll get your jammies on at 8pm, crawl into bed with a movie and glass of wine, and then you'll get a text telling you the bus from a sporting event will arrive around 10:30pm. You'll get dressed, jump in the car, get to the school and find out the bus had to pull over for 2 hours to wait out a storm. You'll sit in the school parking lot until after midnight, finally find your child and be on your way! So, no worries! It gets easier!!!

Lauren said...

I SO had those moments as a nanny, watching the clock. I have thought of those times here and there, and chuckled. But I literally laughed out loud at your last line. Good stuff, Em. Good stuff.

Heather said...

^^she can post as "Anonymous" but we know who she is...lol. Love ya, Hil! :0)

Em, When you get to the days when you feel so "outside of the situation" wondering, not WHEN is your mother coming home but, WHO is your mother??, let me know!! ;0) I isn't it so refreshing to know you are not alone?

emily said...

thanks to all of you! It's always good to feel like we're not alone! thank you for reading and for commenting. And, Heather....I think I AM in that place! too soon?

xoxo