Day 29: And baby makes five
If today is any indication, this is going to be a different and challenging week.
The kids are home (I suppose that didn’t need to be said; when aren’t they these days?) for their Easter break, but I’m still “at work.”
It seems without their own schedules to keep, they forget Mom is working. Even though I’m set up the same way as I am every day at the island counter. Even though I’m dressed for work, not in sweats and a hoodie. Even though I keep telling them, “I’m working.”
I still get asked - “Can I?” “When can you?” “Would you please?” – at least they’re polite, I suppose. But it’s been fairly constant.
You know how words stop sounding like real words when you say or hear them too many times in a short period? “Mom” has reached that point.
Today, I am grateful for my Bluetooth wireless noise-cancelling ear buds.
I was also grateful to get out of the house for 45 minutes to take a few photos and cover a protest of the tree removal down in Ethel Tucker Park. It’s a gentle reminder that even though the world is changed for the time being, it’s still turning. Things are still happening and people are still out there, doing.
By the time I returned home, just before noon, I was met with chaos. Kids were finishing up chores (at least they listen and do those even when I’m not around), getting ready for lunch, and the baby, rejuvenated after a morning nap, was cruising around the house.
Her day home was closed today for Easter weekend, so she’s added to the mix on this Monday. And that makes today even harder.
Even when they don’t catch on or forget Mom is trying to get her work done, at least I can remind the older four and they handle things on their own – Hannah fills her own water glass, they figure out how the game works.
But Jordan doesn’t understand. And when Mommy is home, that means she can play and read books – all the books.
Thankfully, she was up most of the night (teething is great) and took an extra-long afternoon snooze so I could get things done. What a strange thing to be grateful for.
I’m relieved she can go back to the day home tomorrow. It’s far easier to focus when the little one isn’t tugging at my pant leg – and my heartstrings, with her great big Bambi eyes and a little board book clutched in her chubby fingers.
Homeschooling isn’t happening this week, but I have the feeling I’m embarking on my most challenging five days yet. Things seemed more manageable when the kids were on schedules, too.
Don’t get me wrong – that’s not because they’re awful kids, or because they’ve done anything out of the ordinary. But trying to put stories together in the middle of the fray, the regular buzz of activity in our home during a school holiday, takes a lot of concentration, a heck of a lot of strength, and a load of determination.
Here’s hoping I come out the other side with productivity, patience (I’ll need that in buckets), and my sanity.
Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca
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