There was an old woman…

Who lived in a townhouse.
She had so many children,
she didn’t know what to do!

Ok, so maybe I’m not old, and 3 is not really “so many” children, but sometimes it does feel like it!

And its not so much that I don’t know what to do, its more like I just don’t want to do it!

The kids are getting weirder, and I am just tired. The ‘almost 4’ year old is such a bully to the 2 year old, but such a wonderful big brother to the baby…
The 2 year old totally adores the ‘almost 4’ year old, and wants to pull the baby apart limb by limb…
The baby does not want to miss out any of the ‘good times’ that we’re having… When nursing he always pops up his head to look at his brothers and laugh, when putting him to sleep he stretches out his body so he can see if anyone else is around!

My husband is working from home today (and yesterday) and its nice that I am not totally alone, but here is the thing about having him home…

He spends the day in his office and we really don’t see him, but the kids know he’s there so the behave differently… if I say something that the ‘almost 4’ year old does not like, he responds with “I am going to daddy!” And it would be nice to get rid of him except that daddy is busy and the door is closed so he ends up walking around upstairs without supervision… and I am just to tired to go get him.

I am typing with the baby, he loves to play with the keyboard, so its type – move baby hand away – type – move baby hand away – erase – type – type – move baby mouth away – erase – type – pick up baby, give him kiss – type – wisper sweet nothings in baby ear – type – move baby hand away…

Here is the oddest thing… I feel like I can have more kids! Obviously not any time soon, but I can do it again… the vomiting, the nausea, the heartburn, the swollen limbs, the screaming newborn, the sleepless nights… You know its all worth it to get those free samples and ‘free’ portraits that they send to new moms!

The ‘almost 4’ year old is a challenge to keep up with for the past few days. Although he needs the least attention, he does seem to get into the most trouble… He is starting school in a month, so I think that he may be a little nervous about that. Yesterday I was measuring something and he said to me that it was “2 and a half inches”... that was cute… “how do you know about inches?” I asked… “I know” he confidently told me.

My 2 year old seems perfect… perfectly cute, with his new word everyday, with his little sentences, with his little happy dances, with is cute “mommy, yaa, mommy”... I would say he is my favourite these days! Take that middle child syndrome!!

You know you're a mom when…

Hearing your baby say “mama” for the first time just bring tears to your eyes, but hearing your ‘baby’ say mommy for the 100th time makes you just want to put a sock in his mouth!

Suddenly you use the phrase “just 5 minutes” a lot!

You think that your husband is the world’s greatest dad, a moron, and the worse father all at the same time!

‘Bath’ means the time you spend giving your kid a bath, and usually it makes you more wet than when you eventually get a chance to have a shower!

The day is measured in breakfast-time, play-time, lunch-time, nap-time, dinner-time, story-time, bath-time, and sleepy-time.

Once simple tasks like climbing the stairs now seem like death-defying stunts as your kids try to master the staircase!

Everyone you meet is now an expert on child-rearing and has brilliant advice that they need to share with you!

Your mom’s most important role in life is now being ‘grandma’ to your kids!

You wish that you can eat chocolate all the time and still lose weight… ok, maybe that’s just me

Words like ‘potty, pee pee, poo poo’ are now a vital part of your vocabulary and ‘no’ is your most frequently used word!

“Mommy” is the most frequently used word in your household!

"Be Quite! I am on the phone!"

Said my ‘almost 4 year old’ to me as I interrupted his pretend call with his dad… He laughed; he spoke words I could not understand with some “you know” and “sometimes” thrown in… “You’re so funny daddy” he continued his conversation, “O.K. bye bye, love you!” He then passed me the phone and said he was all done.

My son is almost 4, we sometimes forget that he is still just a baby too, he seems so grown up, so mature. He even helps me with taking care of his brothers, on his good days at least! On his bad days, he pulls the 2 year old’s hair, pushes the 2 year old, takes all the toys for himself, and passes out orders to us all!

Today was a shocker… my almost 4 year old asked to go outside… (its hot outside, H.O.T., and I am from the Caribbean!) so I said ok but for a little while. He got slippers for himself and his brother, he went outside for less than 5 minutes then came back in and called his brother back in, and he took their slippers back to ‘where the slippers live’!

Next surprise… he asked to go to sleep for naptime!! I brought them up and gave them milk (yeah he still drinks milk from a bottle…) As I was nursing the baby, I did not go back to get the bottles once they were done… my almost 4 year old got his bottle, and his brother’s bottle, and brought the bottles to me. Then he went back in their room.

By the time that I finished with the baby and went to check on them, they were asleep! He even closed in their room door!

Wouldn’t you be in shock too?!?

Well, at least the baby is still behaving as expected… while the other 2 sleep, he is making loud “ah ah ah ah” noises, trying to escape his crib, and complaining every time he notices that someone is not holding him!

Parenting 101.

After becoming a parent, what becomes our number 1 priority? Our children? Protecting our children, taking care of our children, making sure our children are away from dangerous situation.

I cannot imagine the feelings of parents in Lebanon. I can’t imagine how it feels to not be able to do anything to protect my kids.

I heard that “soccer moms” are in favour of war, in favour of killing innocent people because they are “weeding out the terrorists”!

Lebanon’s health minister now says about 750 people – mainly civilians – have been killed by Israeli action in Lebanon since their operations began 19 days ago.

A total of 51 Israelis, including at least 18 civilians, have been killed in the conflict, sparked by Hezbollah’s capture of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid earlier in July.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5228224.stm

So people, 2 soldiers captured, and let me stress SOLDIERS, are worth the lives of 801 people?

In my opinion, stereotyping has made people in North America lose their sense of humanity, their sense of justice, their empathy… not every Arab is Muslim, not every Muslim is Arab.

And “terrorists” are individuals. Just like we do not assume that all Christian pastors are rapists beacuse of the actions of a few, we should not assume that all Muslims are “terrorists” because of the actions of a few! These are innocent children, children that learn from their environment, children that are learning about war and revenge, children that are signing bombs!

Stop stereotyping. Seek some knowledge!

Do you think that it is right if I say that all “soccer moms” are ignorant? Mothers should be the first to say stop the war, stop killing kids… Does it only matter if they are our own kids?

Working mom?

I am not exactly a stay at home mom… I am on maternity leave from my day job. Here in Canada we get 1 year off… its really nice and does make us feel like we are stay at home moms… until it ends.

My time ends in December, and so now I am trying to figure out what I am going to do… can I be a working mom with 3 kids under 4?

I have a project that I am working on right now, which is taking up most of my time. I am getting an idea of what life is going to be like as a working mom… I don’t think I like it! There are working moms who make it look easy, and some are really great at balancing everything, but I don’t know if its for me.

Frustrated. Tired, actually exhausted. Constant headache. Very short temper. Almost vanishing milk supply. Little sleep. Too much screaming.

As my project only lasts a month, I am fine with it, I know there is an end, I know it does not happen often, I sometimes enjoy the change of pace, I know that I will be back to normal when I am done. But what’s going to become of me when I am working? And what’s going to become of my kids? I am not sure that I want to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown all the time!

Is it worth it?