A Tale of Two Days

Day One:

We managed to get out the door on time for my Tuesday morning group at church. I even took a shower! Henrik played happily with the other kids and I got to meet with the women and hold/nurse my baby. The sun was shining as we headed home. Henrik said cute things about his friend Jack, and Rae, who watches them during the study. Ira slept nicely in his car seat so I took advantage of that and made lunch for Henrik and I. We stood together (him on a chair) at the kitchen counter and ate avocado and crackers and fruit and talked about things that 2 year old boys talk about. Henrik downed his avocado and other healthy things which always makes me happy. He then played nicely while I fed Ira and went down for a nap. Soon Ira went down for a nap as well. Both boys were sleeping so I quickly tidied up the kitchen and laid down myself. After about 25 minutes Henrik randomly woke up crying, but by some miracle he was convinced to go back down and ended up sleeping another hour. I was energized from my power nap and Ira was still asleep so I hurried around picking up and starting laundry and organizing some paperwork.

It was a day where everything felt right. As the afternoon progressed, Henrik was cute and sweet and Ira did perfect amounts of eating and sleeping and awake time. My house was clean and in good order when Devin arrived home from work. He poured some wine and we chatted about the day and a  friend brought us some yummy Thai food for dinner.

These are the days that leave me thinking life as a mom is good and I've got this whole two kids thing, and why wouldn't we have another kid someday?


Day Two:

The morning went relatively well. We got to BSF on time and Henrik had fun in his class. I enjoyed being back. Then before we left I let Henrik run around in the gym for awhile. Everything started to go downhill after that. Henrik threw a fit like he never has before when I said it was time to go and he had to be done running. He screamed and threw himself to the floor as I attempted to put on his coat. As we moved toward the door he insisted on be carried. I tried to carry him, just to avoid causing a scene, but the reality is that I just couldn't carry two bags, a baby in a car seat, and a 30 pound toddler. So it ended up taking us about ten minutes just to get to our car. Several stops to talk/bribe/threaten/discipline Henrik who still wasn't interested in walking. Not one of our finest moments. I'm sure anyone who saw us sure hoped I was taking advantage of the "home training lessons". :)

By the time we got home, Ira was hungry and cranky and I frantically tried to hold him off and get Henrik to eat some lunch. Today he wasn't interested in avocado or leftovers or anything I wanted him to eat. Finally I gave up and took Ira into the living room to nurse him. Henrik stayed in the kitchen and spilled my coconut water all over the floor before coming into the living room and pestering us while Ira tried to eat. I put Henrik down for a nap earlier than was ideal, but he needed it and I needed a break from him. Ira decided to cry and eat for the next couple hours while Henrik slept which ruined any chance I had of napping. This was unfortunate since the night had been rough and I was on little sleep.

Ira continued to be fussy and not sleep well for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I haphazardly put together a breakfast dish for dinner. The kitchen looked like a tornado had been through. Henrik wanted to help me make food. He pulled up a chair and promptly grabbed a very sharp serrated knife. He looked at me defiantly as I asked him to give it back. I finally tried to remove it with force which ended in a sliced thumb for me (thankfully Henrik was unharmed). This was probably the third time I had talked to him in a very unkind voice (aka yelled). Ira was super fussy unless I was nursing him so I just sat and did that for an hour while Henrik watched more George and played on the iPad. As if he needed more screen time. I warned Devin not to expect a friendly house to return to after work. And it wasn't, well at least not from me.

Henrik threw a fit when Devin tried to feed him dinner and was fairly demanding until bedtime. Ira continued to be cranky. And all of this led into another night of little sleep. These are the days I'm quite positive we'll never have another kid, I resent anyone who's getting a full night's sleep, and generally want to crawl in a hole and wake up when Ira is older and life is easier (presumably).

How different life can be from Tuesday to Wednesday.

7 comments:

sarah.flyingkites said...

Oh. my. word.

As I finished reading Day 1 I was already laughing because I had this feeling...

I know it probably doesn't seem funny to you, but I just laughed during Day 2. What a day!

I can totally relate and this is one of the better posts I've read in a while.

Hang in there!!

sandra said...

As I read day 1 I knew what day 2 was going to be like!! You are not alone. Isn't it just embarrassing when your child throws a fit and won't obey at all when you say "it's time to go home"??!! Ahhhh

leah said...

oh man, i what was coming too halfway through the first day! :/

praying for a few more of the good days for the rest of the week.

and i got a good lol at the "home training lessons" comment :)

L, Ann and boys said...

aw...man... one time a guy (random person...not Luke ha) looked at me and told me that sleep was a psychological need not so much a physical one (when I was tired)...I contemplated hitting him really hard and saying that was a psychological need too. Haha Pretty sure mom's need sleep to recover from making a human for physical reasons. Here's to hoping you get some solid hours in soon. :)

Betsy said...

Oh Em, thanks for the amusement at your expense...:( I have no idea what home training lessons are but I imagine it is something very vital. You're doing a great job as a mom...you are being used for good in the lives of your boys because God is that gracious.

Daveana said...

I agree with Betsy!!! I think you're a great mom!

thecontraireproject said...

I feel like everyday I go back and forth on wanting more kids or never again based on how the day (or night) goes haha totally relate