My husband is a school teacher, and his school day starts at 7 AM, which means he leaves the house before 6, and I’m on my own with the boys (7 and 2 years old) in the mornings. It’s tough trying to get out of the house on time for work on an average morning, but this morning was worse than usual.
My alarm was set for 6:30 instead of 5:30, but I was so tired last night that I didn’t notice the difference (yes, it was because I was watching the Pats beat the Jets). It took me a good 15 minutes this morning to realize it was an hour later than usual (why is it so light outside??). I was able to fly through most of my own routine, but the boys are always a different story – you never know what you’re going to get. Since they were well-rested, my oldest was fabulous in getting everything done quickly without complaint. The baby did really well too, except for the diaper issue. His diaper exploded during the night. Not with poop, but the actual inside of the diaper. I’ve never seen anything like it. The urine soaked granules were all throughout his footy PJs down to his toes. I had to take him into the bathroom and give him a sponge bath and the poor thing stood there shivering and asking for his blankie. I felt awful for him, but he was a trooper. He may have been freezing, but I was soaked with sweat by the time we were finished and I finally had him dressed. It took me a full 1/2 hour to finally cool off.
All of that, and we only left the house about 10 minutes later than usual. I never raised my voice, and kept the boys cheerful and happy. I deserve a medal, damnit!! People without children will never know how much time and energy parents put into something as simple as a morning routine when everything goes to hell, and yet you still manage to pull it off. I know other parents understand, and have done this themselves many, many times. I wish there were a way to make other (childless) people/co-workers understand. I hear my 20-something staff complain in the mornings (when I’ve been up half the night with a crying baby) about how tired they are and think – “you have no idea what it took for me to get here this morning”.
Oh well. The rewards are times like yesterday when I picked my little one up from his crib after his nap, and he put his head on my shoulder and we just rocked and snuggled. Mommy bliss.
