Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

So there we were in an average, over-priced hotel room while buckets and buckets of rain dumped down on the outside world.  We were just about to put on our bathing suits and head down to the unexceptional hotel swimming pool when my oldest daughter blurted, without thinking, "I don't even mind having a baby sister if I still get to go swimming with my Mom!" I wondered how long she had been waiting to say something like that.  Earlier that afternoon the two of us had climbed into the car and driven less than an hour away where we checked into a hotel and headed out to do some shopping.  She had hardly stopped talking since we left the house.  At one point she paused to take a big breath and then carried on telling me about everything important that happened in fourth grade, things I had never even imagined.   There weren't any toddlers to chase or sighing eight year olds to console.  All of my attention was focused...

It is true that I spend just about every waking moment in the presence of my darling two year old daughter.  And even though this is a fact, I don't always see her.  I acknowledge her rude-sounding demands for cheese and juice.  I scold her for putting the cat in a headlock and for scribbling all over my bedsheets with a permanent orange marker.  I scoop her into my arms when things have not gone her way and she collapses in a puddle on the kitchen floor, but I do not, in fact, always see her. And so today, after multiple attention-seeking, naughty behaviors had irritated me to my core, I looked and found a little person who needed to be seen .  I also found a little person who has suddenly developed a very vivid imagination, and this little person was a rather wonderful companion for the afternoon. This afternoon I spent a bit of time looking out the window at reindeer.  At first I strained my eyes searching for the actual deer that often trot throug...

Boy, my head is spinning a little.  We have not exactly eased gracefully into the new school year.  None of us seem to have latched on to the concept of, "Early to be, early to rise..."  In fact on Monday morning, after she had fallen asleep in her cornflakes three times, I simply sent Sophia back to bed and took her in to school an hour late.  I decided it was more important that she be conscious than on time.  Call me crazy. I am enjoying the one on one time that I have with Lili now that those other people are off at school all day.  Having me all to herself means that Lil has plenty of time to declare her appreciation for different parts of my body.  This is particularly apparent when she climbs into the shower with me, pats me on the bum and chirps, "I like ya booty, Mama."  We've also played countless games of "Hide Seek."  When the excitement level gets too high, sometimes Lili forgets which part she is playing.  She has been kn...

We are too busy, and there is not enough time to spend with the beautiful little people in my life.  This week we are adding swimming to the agenda which means we now have something extracurricular going on every night of the week (except Friday because that would be completely insane).  I swore it would never be like this, but here we are with double gymnastics, swimming and church youth activities.  There is not enough down time. Even when we are home it feels nearly impossible to spend individual quality time with each girl. There are always plenty of house chores and laundry to be done.  There is also the matter of fact that we have an impish toddler running around who requires constant supervision and who doesn't cooperate when the big girls set up an intricate board game on the floor.  (Even now as I type, there is the risk that she could, at any moment, scurry over here and press the power button on my computer.)  Yesterday, after she had helped wi...