It's safe for me to say that today has been a pretty ordinary day for a mother of two under/at two. If you're not a mom or caretaker of little ones, you may not be able to relate as much, but for those who are, I know you've been down this road before: using the bathroom --- with everyone crammed in with you.
I texted my husband after this morning's eventful bathroom experience and reminded him to enjoy every peaceful bathroom moment he had today, because mine are never peaceful. Or private. Unless I fasten my two-year-old into her booster seat, stick my nine-month-old into his exersaucer, turn Mickey on, and keep the door cracked from the side hallway, so I can make sure no one tries to jump/climb out. Although if they did, what would I do? Stop myself from going to the bathroom and run out to grab them? Probably not. I'd probably just let them continue, unless it got really dangerous (I think). Anyway, even in this ideal situation, I'm still not having peaceful, private time, as the door is half open and both kids may or may not be yelling my name. On repeat.
However, there are times in my life that using the bathroom was a me time and I know that one day it will be again. So I'm not at a loss. In fact, I'm sure that when the day comes when I do get to use the bathroom on my own, I will miss my littles and their constant intrusions. It'll be kinda lonely, I suppose.
Today's bathroom visit not only had my nine-month-old trying to crawl through the door that my two-year-old was trying to shut on him, but my three-year-old Lab insisted on joining in the mix.
(Note: we were in our powder room downstairs, not the full master bath. Think tight, small spaces).
I think my cat was the only one giving me some space. She's a cat, though: she understands the need for space. As I was feeling slightly overwhelmed at the whole scene, I realized how utterly hysterical it all was. Babies yelling at each other and at the dog, yelling at me for help, watching me as I finished up, and making honest toddler comments like, "Eww! Yucky!". So I just started to laugh. And, document with my camera phone. What else can we do but laugh and take pictures, right?
** I apologize for the poor quality of photography; I was multitasking and couldn't focus on lighting and camera angles.
Mommas, next time this happens to you, don't despair. Be grateful. How blessed are we that we have someone to share our bathroom time with? I can't imagine having it any other way. Except with more babies and dogs piling on in.
You may recall that before I had my daughter, Victoria, I was a mother first to
Imogen, the cat, and then to Dean, the dog. On Saturday I got to revisit my
motherly duties to both of them, as they were both overdue for visits to the
vet. Unfortunately for me, the vet’s office couldn’t schedule their
appointments back-to-back, so I had to take Imogen first at 8:45 a.m., and
Dean, a short while later, at 11:00 a.m.
The vet is a good 20 minutes away, so add in the time it
took to drive there and back, and that made for about an hour and a half on the
road. Did I mention I was fighting off some sort of stomach bug? You can
picture it now: Imogen riding shotgun in the Pet Taxi, with me hunched over,
slurping on my Diet Ginger Ale, and scarfing down some Saltines. However, it
was my fault for putting their needs off for months on end,and I’m so very grateful our vet is
open on Saturdays. Weekdays are way too busy to try fitting in trips to our
dear Dr. Jones.
Imogen riding shotgun
So off we went, down I-95 to I-64, headed to the West End of
Henrico to the Quioccasin Veterinary Hospital. Imogen was going in for a
disgusting bit of matted hair that had made a nice home for itself in the
middle of her back. We had tried cutting it out ourselves, but were afraid of
what might be underneath (eeek!). Turns out poor Imogen is a little overweight,
and as Dr. Jones informed me, cannot reach that part of her back to clean. She
could not say what caused such a mess, but pulled out her trimmers and buzzed
it right off. Only dry, flaky skin revealed itself. Shew! Dr. Jones recommended
switching Imogen to a salmon-based diet to help with the dandruff, as well as
brushing her every so often to help out with the parts she couldn’t reach. I
felt guilty about Immy’s weight and lack of brushing; blaming it on the fact
that Dean and Victoria got most of our attention. I reminded myself of some of
the parents I deal with as a teacher who have endless excuses for their child’s
poor behavior or missing work. Uh oh…
At 9:15 a.m., we were back on the road to home. Fortunately,
Imogen made it out with only a bald spot from where her matted hair had been. I
ran by Wal-Mart, then dropped off the groceries, picked up Dean, and headed
back down I-95 to I-64. Thank goodness I could leave the baby home with her daddy!
This story would probably be way more eventful had the 8-month-old been tagging
along.
You can picture it this time: Dean pacing in the back of the
Explorer, whimpering, as he often does when he gets excited, and me hunched
over, still sipping on my Diet Ginger Ale, and munching on Saltines. Dean is a
lot harder to handle than Immy, considering he is much heavier, stronger, and
determined to say hello to every living thing he encounters. Dean was overdue
for two of his shots, and also needed a nail trimming.
When we first arrived, they weighed him. In November, at
Dean’s last appointment, he weighed 68 lbs. On Saturday he weighed in at 78
lbs. Dr. Jones walked into the room, mouth wide-open and gaping, and exclaimed,
“TEN POUNDS! WHAT HAPPENED?!”. Again, I felt like I was on the other side of
the parent-teacher conference table in my classroom. Dr. Jones (the concerned
and frustrated teacher) and me (the clueless parent), feeling embarrassed and
guilty for the current state my child (Dean) was in. I honestly didn’t know how
he had gained ten pounds, but I had my speculations. Could it be my latest,
accidental purchase of his food in the puppy version, which has a much larger
fat content? Perhaps it's the fact that he hasn’t been on a walk in a month, since
the weather has been up and down and we’ve been busy trying to get our house on
the market. Or maybe, it’s because we delight in spending our time and energy
with Victoria, after working all day, and once she’s in bed, we all collapse on
the couch. Dean included. Excuses, excuses. Oh! And we give Dean a Kong with a
spoonful of peanut butter every morning (mostly due to our guilt of leaving him
all day). That probably doesn’t help his weight, either.
However, I told Dr. Jones I hadn’t even noticed he had
gained 10 lbs. (again, sounds like the parents I work with who haven’t even noticed
their child hasn’t done homework all week…), but that we would make sure to do
whatever she recommended to get him in shape. So far, so good (it’s been two
days). Sunday we made a trip to PetSmart to get him on the appropriate food for
his size. We’ve also taken him for walks the past two days. We have high hopes
for change, and for Dean and Immy’s sake, I hope we stick to it.
Being a mommy is tough! And I want to have how many more kids? Three? Four? Five? Yikes….
To my loyals and newcomers as well, thanks for visiting!
Well friends, it has been a month and a half since my last post. And yes, we're still TTC. No luck yet but we're hanging in there. I'm not going to lie - we weren't as "on task" during the past month because as a teacher, the month of September is absolutely draining! We also had a hurricane at the end of August (yes - a hurricane in Richmond, Virginia!) which really upset the start of the school year. And on top of that, we got our puppy during this time, which made things even crazier! But as the fall is starting to settle in, I can see the calm in sight.
Now as I wait to be a real mommy, let me tell you about being a doggy mommy. As you know from my my earlier posts, I had been greatly anticipating this role. I had no idea how much energy, patience, and time it would really take. When I was warned by my stepmother that having a dog is a little bit like having a child, I didn't realize how true that was! Dean, our pups, cannot be left alone for one second or we will be very sorry! The pillows may be in shreds or we may be cleaning up his "accidents" on the carpet...and of course, this still happens even when we do have our eyes on him. Trey and I take turns on whose night it is to take care of Dean. Until he is about 16 weeks, he has to go to the bathroom twice during the night - but fortunately he quickly goes "potty" and then we can put him back in his crate and go back to sleep. But it is definitely a new responsibility that takes getting used to (and one that will break us in for when we have a crying baby during the night who needs to be fed and changed).
Dean's favorite "snooze" spot - over the AC vent
Our sweet boy
Dean is the most beautiful puppy I have ever seen. He is a sweetheart too, as he loves to curl up on our laps and take his naps. We have much to teach him and already have him signed up for "Puppy Education" courses starting October 9th. It is cute to see how worried Trey gets over the little things with Dean, and confirms what an amazing and caring father he will be to his children. Trey took Dean to the vet today and we found out he now weighs 23 lbs (he was 9 lbs when we got him 4 weeks ago) and he is healthy. Parents always want to hear that.
Our amazing family: Dean, Trey, Lizzie, Imogen
In addition to being Dean's mom, I have also taken on the responsibility of 20 other children during the last four weeks. My fifth grade class keeps me uber-busy as I spend every extra moment that I'm not teaching planning fun, engaging lessons, grading papers, calling parents with positive comments, attending meetings, and planning more lessons. I am so exhausted, but pleased as well. I have an amazing class this year with extremely polite, motivated, and responsible students. Last year was a tough year with my first class, but I have high hopes for this group of kids. For the first time since I finished my student teaching, I really love teaching again.
