A description of life lately, as would be appropriate for a preschool picture book:

TEN

• fingers and toes that the boys adore on a certain Little Miss
• times we remind people about “PERSONAL SPACE!  GIVE SOME PERSONAL SPACE!”  and “GENTLE!!!!” as they try to embark in Community Bouncy Seat Time
• minutes:  time it took for the Mama to fall asleep watching NCIS, even though she’d been waiting to watch it All.Day.Long. and was giggling during those few minutes, but the pull of sleep was too strong

NINE

• pounds – our next goal for weight (some to get to, some to lose+)
• o’clock:  time it feels acceptable to head to bed – any earlier just feels socially wrong, like drinking before noon

EIGHT

• average loads of laundry per week

SEVEN

• ty times seven – number of times Abe says “NO!”, stomps his foot, and engages in his Rights as a Toddler and the Mama engages in her Rights to Enforce Time Out (which isn’t so effective while stuck in the nursing chair)

SIX

• average hour everyone, and I mean *everyone*, is awake … and being fed … and dressed … with beds made (sigh)

FIVE

• different places people find a place to slumber in our rotating bed situation (Mama moves into Boo’s room to help her sleep, Abe moves into Mama’s room cause he can, Mama moves out of Boo’s room into Abe’s room to get some space, JJ and Hubby snore on)
• days between library visits induced by the guilt of knowing we’re taking up *that* much space on the shelf as the holds keep pouring in

FOUR

• times we’ve been to church, i.e. “Pass the Baby while Mama drinks coffee and gets to speak in complete sentences and use higher levels of thinking” time
• o’clock:  the hour in which the Mama is so grateful for friends bringing hot dinner and freezer meals – who knew a loaf of freshly baked bread could make a person weepy?

THREE

• fingers that bled when the Mama got tired of being clawed while nursing and clipped Little Miss’s fingernails
• hundred million pounds of guilt the Mama feels at the scabs on the fingers
• carseats to deal with:  that’s a lot of clipping and buckling

TWO

• big brothers who can’t get enough of their darling little sister (although they’re kinda done with each other)
• hours on average of consecutive sleep I get a night
• small people who are not having their needs met at any given time
• diaper-wearers, although we’re going to whittle that number down quickly (if possible)
• arms the Mama no longer has much time to use for things other than holding small people

ONE

• purple pacifier spit out in our general direction
• show on hulu watched per night:  working through Glee, Defying Gravity, Stargate Universe, Dollhouse, and planning a Battlestar Galactica binge someday soon
• month down with five members of the house
• chest that is the favorite place for a Little Miss to slumber
• tired, contented-in-a-weird-way Mama who knows wants to enjoy what she can, because this, too, shall pass

Mama Musings