A Day in My Slippers - a Tale from Mommyville

It's 5:45 a.m. and most normal people should be sleeping. Well most normal people without children I suppose. This time it is my oldest, he's 4, and I'm begging him to be quiet so as to not wake his little brother. The little brother that has crept into bed with us at about 3:00 a.m. Of course this is to no avail. I am greeted by a "mommy I'm starving, if you don't feed me then my head will get small and break open." Thank you, Spongebob.

We have survived the morning chaos and we are entering into the mid-morning chaos. There is a vast array of crying, and yelling "THAT'S MINE!" I have tried to explain to them that technically everything in the house is mine and not theirs, but that concept is lost on 2 and 4 year olds.

This time in our life is especially exciting because we are potty training. I have always heard that things are different with the second child. You will never know how true that is until you decide to have the second. I can remember thinking I've got this down. Let's go ahead, it should be no big deal. Somehow when they are born mathematics goes out the window. The theory is if I have 1 and I add 1 then I only have 2 and it should be twice the work. In mommy math class it is 1 plus 1 equals 10 times the work. It's a mathematical phenomenon that I think they should research.

This potty training thing is beginning to get the better of me. I waited until my oldest was almost 3 before we really began potty training. The second child is easier to train right? So, my 27 month old boy should get the hang of it. Yeah right! We found out today that it is really fun to use the bathroom on a tree. This somehow turned into an everywhere is acceptable to use the bathroom. I caught him this evening standing on top of a laundry basket trying to hit the trash can. He said "I pee in trash." That was of course followed by "NO, you pee in the potty!" I have been told a thousand time "If you blink you'll miss it." Well I have blinked so hard and often that most of my eyelashes have fallen off.

It is now the end of the day and it's bath time. This of course is the most bittersweet part of the day. They love the bath, but not the getting clean aspect of it. I think they would like to just take a swim in the tub. Every night the youngest inadvertently gets soap in his eye. You would think he'd have the hang of it by now. He has had a bath every day for the past 27 months. That means he has had over 750 baths.

It's bed time now and the fight begins. "I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, I have to potty, I'm not sleepy." Now it's time for my oldest to become the mommy. "Go to sleep." "Mommy, he's not going to sleep." I am still trying to figure out why I thought it was a great idea for the two boys to share a room.

Shhhh, they are sleeping. Now is the time mommy gets to recharge. It is very important for mommy to have her time because tomorrow she has to do it all over again. Wait, what is that I hear? Oh, yeah, daddy. It's now midnight and I know that at any given moment one of the little ones will be in my bed, but for now maybe I can get 3 hours uninterrupted sleep. I know someday I will look back and miss it all, but right now I'm just taking it a day at a time and trying to remember that those precious sleeping angels are only mine for a short time.