MOM!

I have to admit, this week was not a hallmark of parenting paradise nor did it set a standard for ideal parent-child relationships. It was a long, frustrating, and tough week for both myself and the kids. Too bad for me, Moms never really get a vacation. Sometimes just the sheer amount of times I hear someone yelling "MOM!" makes me feel like I need a straight jacket and a padded room! And now that Noah's verbal, both kids are at it. Although, it is interesting to see their different approaches to getting my attention.

Both kids seem to think I'm either deaf (or at least hard of hearing) and that they must compensate for this somehow. Noah's method is sheer volume. He'll walk right up to me, stand a foot in front of me and just yell out, "MOM!" He can't seem to say it, he just yells it. I have to say, that usually works and gets my attention so I say, "What?" But, having a limited vocabulary, Noah seems to think "mom" is a word that can mean anything. So our usual conversations go, "MOM!" "What little man?" "Mom. Mom. Mom, mom mom....mom, MOM!" The latter accompanied by much pointing and gesturing. At that point, if he hasn't gotten his point across he usually grabs my hand and tries to drag me to where he wants me and further elaborates his needs. One of his needs seems to be, quite frequently, eating a banana. He's a monkey and loves them! He would eat 8 a day if I'd let him! Actually he's just recently learned to say banana. Well, he says "ba-ba" but it gets his point across. So to confirm that I understood him I usually repeat, "You want a banana?" Then he'll smile and nod emphatically and sort of laugh like, "At last, she got it!" But then there are those times when I don't get what he wants right away. Then I start guessing... "You want a drink?" "You want your truck down?" "You want help?" And each time I'm wrong I get an emphatic NO, or actually I get "BO!" since Noah says it with a b.

Bree's strategy, on the other hand, is repetitiveness. She'll say, "Hey Mom..." and if I don't respond immediately, and I mean immediately as in within a few seconds, she'll just repeat herself.."Hey Mom! Mom! Hey Mom! Mom..Mom, Mom? Mom! Mom? MOM! MOOOOOOMMM!" I suppose this could be remedied if I make sure to have a prompt response but heaven forbid that I'm on the phone or deep in thought with trying to plan out a weekly menu or what have you. And in my defense, I have a very talkative little girl here... I mean, REALLY talkative and active, and sometimes it's just so much that I can't process it all and my brain sort of just checks out. Additionally, she's 4 and has the patience of a typical 4 year old so even when I'm in the process of getting her the drink she's asked for (20 times) then she's watching me and going, "MOOM, what's taking so long?"

It's all very normal but it can be exhausting at times. I'm truly convinced that while mothering young children a stay at home mom's IQ can go down a good 20 points. Really, it takes so much of our time and energy feeding, clothing, bathing, changing, and protecting them that there's not much room in our forebrain for much else. This is not to mention that our train of thought is interrupted so regularly that it almost becomes ingrained so even when the kids are asleep or are being watched by someone else, we're not used to getting to think our own thoughts in complete sentences.

So, this week was a challenge. (TGIF!) But, time to take a deep breath, try to remember the good moments and start ov . . .