Category: Uncategorized

DAILY SNACK

Sleep is becoming difficult

With Irene.

We’re living in the nether zone between two naps and one, for one.

And night-waking is starting to wear me out.

I guess I’ve been kinda nursing her down,

Which I NEVER did with this girl when she was a newborn

Because it didn’t work.

She was sleeping through the night at 8 months

And went down for naps in an instant.

Not any more.

We did some sleep training with Colum at this age,

I remember.

And it worked, too.

But it was so hard.

I just don’t have the heart to go through that with Irene.

Not yet, not right now.

So, yes, make that an extra-large coffee

And please don’t mention the bags.

Thanks.

DAILY SNACK

“I don’t like stew anymore, Mom.”

“What? You do like stew. You helped me cook it.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Okay, but if you eat most of your stew then you can have a cookie.”

Fast forward past much arm-twisting and cajoling

And a satisfactory amount of stew has been consumed.

I give the boy his cookie.

“Mom, I’ve decided that I would like a cookie and a Halloween candy for dessert.”

Sigh.

So I gave it to him.

DAILY SNACK

Both kids fell asleep in the car last night.

Fantastic, I thought,

I can skip straight to the peace and quiet.

Just as soon as I carry them both up to our second floor apartment

By myself.

Not wanting to leave either in the dark alleyway,

I deposited Colum just inside the door

Where he dozed on the bottom step.

Irene woke up on the way in

So I plopped her in her playpen while I went back down for Colum.

And she screamed

Bloody murder.

She screamed so loud and so hard

That even Colum who had stayed firmly asleep

On the back stairs and then while I undressed him

Finally woke up.

The cycle of waking each other up continued

For over an hour.

I won’t be trying that again.

DAILY SNACK

For two hours we stood by the side of the road

Watching the Santa Claus Parade go by.

And Colum said hi to each and every float, character, and musician.

They were waving at us after all.

DAILY SNACK

Because I am the last person

In the world

To have a cell phone that doesn’t have a camera in it,

And because I often forget the actual camera at home,

You will just have to take my word

When I tell you about how I put both kids in the wagon the other day.

Colum sat with his back on the far end

And his legs straight out.

And then Irene sat between Colum’s legs with her back to his chest.

I told him to wrap his arms around her and hold her

So she wouldn’t fall out.

And he did.

I pulled them down the street

And when I looked back at my kids,

They were both grinning as big and wide as their faces would go.

It was quite possibly

The sweetest thing I have ever seen in my life.

Can you picture it?

(Sorry.)

DAILY SNACK

Irene’s morning naps are shrinking.

So I’ve been trying to sneak away to the computer

To take care of a bit of work

All morning.

After about 30 seconds,

Irene comes toddling over,

Arms out-stretched.

I scoop her onto my lap and she struggles to get down.

She needs me to play with her.

Until it’s time to change her diaper.

Now she’s tearing off across the apartment completely bottomless.

She can’t get far enough away from me.