zzzzzzzzzzzz

summer solstice + full moon + scary dreams = NO sleep for mom and dad 

Mom? Mom? Mom?

It is difficult to believe that some of the things that happen today I may not remember someday.  I always think I will remember all (and i mean all) of the questions that stimson asks me.  (we're talking millions)  i enjoy the questions.  most of the time.  and by that i mean i really enjoy seeing how his brain works.  but sometimes i would just like to take one breath before there is another question.  just a breath.  and sometimes i wonder why he doesn't have to breathe as much as i do.  unfortunately stimson isn't able to multitask.  (either because of his age or his gender.  or maybe both.)  so whenever (constantly) he is asking a question, he stops whatever he is doing to ask a very "important" question.  of course that makes it quite difficult to actually leave the house and go anywhere because there are so many questions to answer that it is usually time to come back home before we even get out of the house.

we went on a short bike ride today and the questions were steady.  i had to write some of them down so i could remember twenty years from now what was buzzing in his head.  each and every time stimson asks a question, he says mom first.  even if i am two inches away. even if no one else is around.  even if it was just the two of us in a small room on a remote island in the middle of the ocean.  each one is always prefaced with "mom".  mom?  yes? mom? yes?  mom? mom? mom?

s: mom? yes?  what do you like better- a crow or a gopher?
s: mom?  can you break a piece of cotton?  even with a propeller?
s: mom?  why are birds scared of people?
s: mom?  isn't it sad to see a squished gopher?
      m: yes- and gross.
s: well i think it is just sad.  and why don't they wait until the cars stop to cross the road?
s: mom? what do you like better worms or birds?
     m: well, i think i like them both.
s: you can't like them both, birds eat worms so you can either like one or the other.
i like the logic of that one.  we just recently had some blood drawn and blood pressure taken (within view of stimson).  he had thousands of questions.  and it was hard to explain why and what was going on.  i was trying very hard but i was pretty sure my blood pressure was sky rocketing while i answered all the questions related to that.  (and the purpose of the exam was to prove how healthy we are so our life insurance rates are so low that they will pay us to insure us)  having a heart attack at that moment would not have been exactly beneficial.

and will i remember all the super fun grocery store visits?  i would be mortified if i found out that someone knew how many times we go to the grocery store each week.  but i have a good excuse: every single time we go i have a list and every time we go i get approximately 63% of the items on my list.  the rest of the time is spent trying to go potty with merritt, answering stimson's questions (hard to read a list at the same time), putting all of merritt's groceries back that she rips off the shelves (constantly), explaining to the cashier that i don't want all of the energy bars; they just happen to be in our cart, trying to go potty again, forgetting my wallet in the car, forgetting my list in the car, trying potty again, playing with the water fountain, getting three produce bags for three carrots, with a separate twisty tie for each of those carrots, trying potty again.  and finally going potty!!!  and or course while we are in there someone is next to us also going potty.  merritt hears their potty going and she cheers for them.  yay!!!  ok your turn merritt.  concentrate.  and for some reason every time merritt goes or tries to go potty we have to take almost all of her clothes off.  it is quite endearing (and by that i mean frustrating) to undress every time we "try" to go potty.  costco is the absolute worst.  we are always in the fruit section when she says potty!  potty! potty!  the fruit section is approximately two zip codes away from the bathroom.  then we finally get there and have to go through everything- cheering for everyone else in the bathroom, taking all her clothes off, then telling her not to touch anything but or course she touches everything, then washing hands and trying to run out of the room before she touches more things.  every grocery store trip takes twenty-three  times longer than if i were alone.  but i love it! and by that i mean some of the time.  however, on the rare occasion that i go to the store alone (as in by myself, with no one else in or out of the cart or car. as in never), it does feel like a vacation of sorts.

but not the kind of vacation that is memorable.  whereas most every other grocery store visit makes some kind of "special" memory (even if it isn't the kind of memory i want etched in my mind). in twenty years when i shop by myself all the time, i imagine i will miss making a memory every time i go to the grocery store.  it is hard to imagine that though.  at the very least i know i will look back at this and think how boring it is to go potty by myself.  or maybe i will still be cheering for the lady next to me.

true love

do you ever just sit there and feel like you have so much to do but you can't figure out what is most urgent at that exact moment in time?  i had a moment like that tonight.  it lasted about half a second and then i heard a crash in the other room.  i paused for another half a second to listen for the cry.  nothing.  next second, i turned around and decided: dishes.  headed to the dishes, my phone rang.  i answered the phone; because i can talk on the phone and do dishes. while on the phone i walked in the other room to see what had crashed.  nothing bad.  i was about to head back to the dishes and i noticed merritt had a wee little potty accident.  and by that i mean there was poop all over her leg and the carpet.  ugh. phone call over.  (did she do that before or after i answered the phone?  somehow my kids have a marvelous ability to do something disastrous as soon as i get that phone anywhere close to my head)

a few weeks ago i had put merritt down for a nap.  she usually talks for a while before falling asleep.  today she talked for a looooooooooong time.  it went on for an hour and it was getting close to the time where we would have to get up to get stimson from school.  so i went upstairs ready to hug and tell merritt how much i had missed her in the last hour.  before i even got to the crib, i could smell bad stuff.  really bad.  then i got closer and i saw it: everywhere.  same substance referred to earlier.  somehow she had taken her diaper off and had it smeared everywhere.  legs, arms, blankets, sheets, hands, feet, hair, face, and worst of all, THE blankie.  start laundry, triple bath, open the windows, clean, clean, clean.

have i mentioned how much i love being a mom?

i was wondering if my mom ever had to do that with me.  and probably the more relevant question, does she even remember if she ever had to do that?  because i am going to remember this.  i also remember a friend telling me a similar story a couple of years ago and thinking i would NEVER EVER let that happen to my kid.  gross.

i did not take a picture of this incident.  and i probably didn't handle it the way a patient, understanding, and gentle mom would have.  so thankful for generous forgiveness from my children.  i am hoping we can get a great start to a new day tomorrow, and that all diaper contents remain in the diaper until disposed of properly.  surely that will help me be patient, understanding, and gentle.