Thursday, January 28, 2010

Please, Please, Please Let There Be Light



I replaced light bulbs in an overhead light this morning, which involved a lot of stretching and balancing, and it is as if I want a freaking medal. This has been one of those weeks when it has been hard getting things done. I have been neglecting my wifely duties. Here’s proof: Nicole, looking at the mountain of laundry overflowing from the hamper: “Do you think you can do laundry tomorrow?” Me, sighing heavily: “We’ll see.” This week, Nicole has been at work late, and she is currently in Boston for the night. My sleep has been awful: I fall asleep sometime around 1:00 and then when the alarm goes off three hours later to go to the gym, I dismiss it. So I skip my run and sleep in, but while those extra few hours of sleep are needed and appreciated, I pay a heavy price for it all day: I’m lethargic, have less energy, and experience a general feeling of run failure, which I never handle well.

The girls, of course, sensing my (hopefully temporary) weaknesses, have ganged up and overpowered me, and I find myself giving in to their many, many demands more easily. Sure, you can use that paci alllllllll day if it will make you happy. You won’t put on shoes to go to the laundry room? Fine, go barefoot. They can eat an entire pan of brownies and Avery can keep her pajama bottoms on all day. I am too tired to negotiate.

Hold on, Avery just submitted a demand: “Momma, I need plenty more Cheerios.” This “plenty more” is her latest figure of speech. I think it stems from when she asks me for something, like more crayons, when she already has 78, and I say “You have plenty.” So now, she needs “plenty more” of everything.

OK, back. So it has been a tough week, and getting through today and tomorrow solo (no gym for sure, since Nicole isn’t here) is going to be tough. I think I am taking the girls to the movies today. I have the God awful choice of that Chipmunk movie or the Disney Princess movie. Nothing against princesses, but I don’t want to introduce that into our world quite yet. Avery is already completely embracing her inner, innate girl, which I find interesting, as her exposure to things girly-girl are very limited. She sees my manicure and wants one too (in pink, she says). She turns her blankets into gowns and runs around saying “I’m a snow princess Momma!” (I think she got that from the Dora Christmas special.) So if she sees a real Disney princess, I think she may lose it, and my life will be pink pink pink and there will be demands for tiaras and wands and mini high heels for the foreseeable future. I am grateful, at least, that she is also very much into her play tool kit. It’s all about balance, right?

I left the high heels I wore to Monday’s dinner on the floor all week. It’s like I wanted to be reminded that I had the chance to wear them, that I lead this life that involves wearing them and lipstick and contour eye shadow, at least every once in a while. Or maybe I am just feeling lazy and didn’t put them away because there was no medal or reward involved.

Pictured above, the girls at the Zoo. On the entire walk up there, they talked about the penguins. We get there and head over to the penguin habitat and it is ….. closed for renovations. Try explaining that to toddlers who wanted nothing more than to visit the swimming penguins. The sleeping polar bears appeased them a little. And that is a picture of the sunrise one morning on the way to the gym. It is like I am walking into an oncoming train, which is exactly how this week has been feeling. Or is that the death light everyone talks about? Either way, I won’t be seeing that again until Saturday, when Nicole is home and I can get back to my morning run.

8 comments:

psapph0 said...

Check out some of the "dress up" gear over at www.magiccabin.com and www.hearthsong.com. I LOVE their stuff, and, while it can be a bit girly, it's the organic, non-disneyfied kind of girly. We're doing most of our registry here!

Rebecca said...

Those are some very cool pictures. Also, that photo of Avery cooking on the previous post is adorable. I love the way her little tongue is sticking out in concentration.

I think that you and I are living parallel lives this week... my boys have been overwhelming me (literally and figuratively; they are in a climb-on-mommy phase), and my husband is out of town till Friday night. I can't run because it's raining so I can't even put the boys in the double jogger. Hence the nervous edgy no-exercise feeling. Woe is me.

Life is easier when one isn't outnumbered, eh?

K J and the kids said...

I love it. Walk to the light girl. :)

Let her embrace her girly side. She doesn't need princesses and Dora to give her the desire to wear a dress that twirls and lip gloss. Oh no. That's the fun stuff that is nature. Nurture is out the window sister.

Good luck making it through this week. I think we are ALL ready for the sun to come up. and for it to be 70+ degrees outside. All of this cold is making me onery.

Oh..the Princess and the Frog movie isn't about a princess per se. The girl is a waitress. So you won't really get the whole princess in the castle from it.
Have fun !

tessa said...

I hope the rest of the week be as little stressful as possible for you. And about the balance - I don't think that's a requirement, the open possibilities are what matter. As long as those are provided (which it is clear they are), then any choice is an inherently informed choice...there is nothing wrong with living pink tutu girliness to its fullest, nothing at all as long as it is a choice to do so, picked from many possibilities.
Good luck with the laundry :)

Jeannine said...

Going through much of the same here. Husband is traveling so much for work that I have an idea what single motherhood must be like. My daughter is all about plenty too - I must say it all the time because she thinks of plenty as a quantity and asks for, "plenty apples". My son thinks too much is a quantity and asks for "too much water." The best though was when my daughter asked me today what sociable meant (don't know where she heard that). I told her and told her she was sociable and she said, "I'm not sociable, I'm Elizabeth." - this phase is so trying but also so funny.

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