Come, Mommy

Hey, what’s this page??? Oh yeah, it’s my blog….huh. I haven’t posted because…well, I was busy catching up on all the things that I put on the back burner last month, and here I am, resurfacing for a break. It’s been everyday life for the most part around the Menagerie House; we had a relaxing Christmas with the minor annoyance of a respiratory bug that we shared for a week or so there. We had fun during the holidays, and now it’s January, and it’s actually snowing here in New Jersey, and I like snow, so that’s good. Although I realize living a life full of everyday life is actually a good problem to have in many ways, it doesn’t make for good blogging material.

However, it has all changed this week. Kevin, thanks to his ever-growing employer, is enjoying a week touring office buildings and business hotels in The Netherlands, while the boys and I are home. This is the first time I’ve parented two children alone for any extended length of time. I am slowly rising to the occasion, but it’s a steep learning curve…

For example – Kevin had been gone approximately three hours before Kiri fell down the stairs backwards, throwing a flip in there for good measure. I really thought we’d be going to the ER for sure, but once I dusted him off, stopped the bloody nose, and calmed everyone down, he was fine. He did say, “Mommy, me’s head! Me ouch!” several times during the evening while I kept a close watch on his pupil size.

Yesterday at a birthday party for one of Liam’s classmates, Kiri was running around the room with the bigger kids. He and the birthday boy collided. One of them went flying and it wasn’t our new Mr. 5. It was Kiri, and now he’s sporting a large blue bruise across the middle of his forehead. Then he did it again later on, this time ending up with a swollen lip (but we discovered nursing is a great way to calm a child and apply pressure to a bleeding lip at the same time!) There is just no stopping this boy, I tell you.

But Liam has been a great help. He’s taken a big jump in maturity recently, and he has helped me get Kiri down to sleep twice now. So that’s been fun. And Gran-Gran is coming in to town for a few days starting tomorrow night. We’re all looking forward to that!

All of this is the long way of saying tht I had nothing to blog about, but now I am aquiring some material, and I am hoping to post more regularly in the next few weeks. Just to prove my point, I leave you with our winning cute kiddo story for today….

After dinner, Kiri was wandering around being sad and saying, “DaDa? Hhhhhmmmmm? Dada? Me’s Dada? Dada?” (No, Kev, if you are reading this, I am not trying to make you feel guilty. But the boys and I sure miss you!) I hugged him and told him Daddy would be home soon, and then I said something about about how he’s talking up a storm and growing up way too fast and please slow down.

Liam chirped in, “Why are Mommies so sad when their children grow up?” I explained how part of every mom is proud of her kids growing up, while part of her wants to keep them little and next to her forever. Liam looked confused. He thought about that for a while. And then, evidently happy that he had found something cheering to say to me, said:

“Oh, Mommy, you don’t have to worry. I still have to get through the teenage years. And Kiri has to get through 3.”

He’s right. We’ve got lots of adventures ahead of us.

Hopefully I’ll post some of them in the near future.