Night

I've just had the worst night.
Ever.
Not sure it could have gone worst. And I want to tell someone but I don't think anyone would really care. There would be smiles and a few giggles and "Ah, yes. The joys of parenthood. Isn't payback horrible?" And I wouldn't get the sympathy I'm hoping for. Not that I'm hoping for sympathy. Because I don't need sympathy. Pfft. Me? Need sympathy? Ok, maybe a little sympathy would be nice but as a mother I don't think you're allowed sympathy. So I'll settle for someone smiling and giggling and saying "What goes around comes around."
Hobbette has been turning her nose up at certain food. She won't eat her banana at breakfast. She picks at her sweet potato chili. A few bites of chicken and she's down from the table playing with fake bacon. Which is all fine and dandy. She'll eat when she's hungry. Well, last night it all came to a head.
She finished her bottle and I was all set to brush her teeth and put her to bed.
"Humry!"
Alright. Here are some beans. She picked at them, grinned at me and ran to the TV.
"Curious. George!"
No, it's time to go brush your teeth.
"Humry!"
There are beans at the table. She sat at the table, ate one bean and ran to her toy kitchen.
We're not playing right now, honey. You have a choice. You eat the beans or you can go brush your teeth.
"Toast."
Here are some beans. No toast.
*Whine*
She goes back to play. No, honey.
*Throws herself onto the ground*
At that point I had had enough messing about. I picked her up, took her to her room and tucked her in.
What followed was a night long tantrum. I lost track of how often I got up in the middle of the night but to give you some idea of what my night was like: I was up 5 times in the one hour between midnight and 1 a.m.
It. was. horrible.

Don't cry at the nice old lady!

We went to the nursing home today.

Hobbit stole the show. Unfortunately he wasn't happy about it. Two very nice old women simply loved him. They wanted to hold him but he wasn't going to have any of that. He wasn't even sure he wanted to sit on the table in front of them. Touching his toes was definitely out. 

There was a lot of lip trembling. And a few tears.

But they still loved him.

My son's a mamma's boy.

Hobbette had a good time as well. It took a little while to warm up but she eventually said "Hi" and "Bye." A nice woman gave her a cup of clear soda of some kind which she did pretty well with. But some did end up on her sleeve and the floor. 

She also got a cupcake... I think she ate half of the cupcake wrapper as well...

Then I did something terrible. I made breakfast for supper. We had pancakes. We got home late, kids were hungry and Hobbit was tired and still a little upset about getting to know little old ladies. So I needed a quick solution and pancakes are pretty quick and easy. And Hobbette loves them. 

I was brought up that breakfast should have breakfast food and supper should have supper food. And never the twain shall meet. Oh, well. I'll just be sure not to make a habit of it.

Bored?

What is this? What's this strange feeling? I think I'm... Can it be... I'm... BORED!

It turns out my husband contributes a great deal to my entertainment value. He's gone for a while, enjoying seafood and a beautiful beach and I get to play single mom. In all honesty, my routine hasn't changed that much.

Except for some strange reason things stay clean longer. 

Which you wouldn't think was a problem. It's not. Don't get me wrong. I couldn't be more satisfied than when my house is orderly. But now that my house stays tidy with less effort... 

Let's just say I've started to clean things that don't normally get cleaned. Like Shaun's sock drawer. I've started making the bed. I suddenly have time to put on makeup. I've completed projects that I've put off for months. I swept the balcony... Today I bought a can of compressed air so I can dust our computers.

And this whole time I have this nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something. I use to be so busy... What happened? The laundry still gets done. I still do the dishes every day. The children get diaper changes and fed. Their naps still take the same amount of time.

But Shaun's not around to play games or read books or talk to during their naps...

So, I do projects or clean or put on makeup instead...

I think I'd rather have the companionship than the time.

I miss my husband.

Single parenthood...

Silly me, thinking I'd just run into the Commissary and pick up some milk and diapers. I should know by now that I can never go to the Commissary and just pick up two items. I walked in, picked up a basket and immediately remembered that I was almost out of oatmeal. And I should probably get more fruit. And I could use more flour. And the sugar is running low. And I think there's only four slices of bread left. And... I should probably get a cart...

So, I get a cart. 

Now that Hobbit can sit up on his own I can get one of those funny carts where half of it is a car with two steering wheels because the genius that designed it realized that some kids have problems sharing. Hobbit chews on his steering wheel. No, I didn't wipe it off first. Does that make me a bad parent?

After I get done I realize that I only have 11 items so I can still go through the self-checkout. I'm cheap and avoid tipping baggers whenever possible. 

I should have tipped a bagger. 

For some reason you're not allowed to take the regular shopping carts out of the store. They have special two-tiered carts that the baggers use to get your groceries out to your car. So, I wheel my cart back to the entrance, pull the kids out, get my bags and realize... I have two very heavy bags, two gallons of milk, two kids, and only two hands...

Just then a nice man was coming back with his two-tiered cart and gave me his. But I still had the problem that one hand was holding Hobbit, the other hand was pushing the cart... How was I going to get Hobbette to the car? I have a rule: if a car frequents the space, she's not allowed to walk without holding onto my hand. This includes parking lots. Just then a woman was walking by and made the suggestion that she sits in the lower tier of the cart. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? She helped Hobbette get situated and the whole way to the car I heard "Whee... Whee..." In that voice that says "this seems like a time when Mom would say this in an effort to make it feel fun and exciting but I really don't find it fun or exciting..."

Kids.