I think I have solved the mystery this weekend. Here goes... Lili wakes up at around 6 am. Sometimes I can convince her to catnap off an on in our bed until about 7:30. Then for the rest of the day, she is my constant companion. She showers with me, accompanies me on all of my errands and climbs onto the open door of the dishwasher and stomps her little feet as I load and unload it. She begs for bites of my breakfast, lunch and dinner and chats to me while I'm in the bathroom. If there is ever a moment when she is not by my side, it can be counted on that she is up to something naughty. She enjoys removing lights and ornaments from the Christmas tree, "cleaning" the toilet and filling it with tissue AND she also likes to empty all of the drawers in my bedroom. If she takes a nap, it usually happens en route to wherever we happen to be going on any given day. She will also occasionally nap in the baby backpack while I do the grocery shopping. All of this is wonderful and exhausting, but there are also two other little people that live in this house...
Emma and Sophia are superstars about getting up and getting dressed completely on their own in the morning. I know what a lucky mom I am in this regard. Sophie usually comes and wakes ME up at around 7:15 am at which point I roll out of bed (with Lili) and make something exceptionally wonderful for breakfast (like toast with jam or oatmeal with fruit). I help the big girls into their coats, snow pants and boots, send them out the door with lovingly packed lunch boxes, and watch from the warmth of the living room as they wait for their school bus at the end of the driveway in the frigid Michigan early morning. And then I proceed with the sorting of the mountain of laundry in my closet. Lili helps by throwing everything out of the basket and rolling in it or playing peek a boo with it. Eventually a basket of white towels and one rogue red sock makes its way into the wash, and then we continue our day with the remaining activities listed in paragraph one.
Later in the afternoon, the big yellow bus rolls back down the street and I am greeted by two chatty and ravenous little ladies. I make snacks. Check that. I make "Dinner Number One". Two hot dogs or a large plate of pasta is not a snack. Then we are off to swimming, gymnastics or church. Lili gets to ride along and I get to entertain her while the big girls practice their activities. The entertainment of Lili often involves a little box of raisins and a cup of juice followed by a game of "You Come Back Here; I'm Going to Get You, You Little Monster". Then we return home for dinner number two, homework, baths and quality time. Quality time involves me being asked questions like, "Hey mom, so like do you think you're a pretty good mom? I'm just asking." or "If I were a badger living in a land called Pillow World, what do you think my favorite hobbies would be?"
At some point I will shuffle Lili off to bed (her own bed, Glory Hallelujah!), and then I begin the bedtime rituals for the other two girls. (There is usually a wonderful Dad around who helps with this routine, but our kids are experts at stretching out the bedtime hour.) By the time it is all said and done, I am usually finishing reading and chatting with Emma by 9:30 or 10. I love reading with my kids and am a huge fan of children's literature, so I am not complaining, but WOW there isn't much "Me Time" happening here these days. No wonder I often stay up past midnight reading or emailing or simply dish-washing without my tap dancing little pally.
I sincerely hope that none of this sounds like I am grumbling. I really love my busy life, but until I sat still for a moment (a rare occurrence) and thought about a typical day in my life, I really couldn't figure out why it is now so much harder to find time to bake, or hang those pictures that have been collecting dust behind the couch for months, to play board games with my older kids or to blog about how fabulous we all are. I also used to love to entertain guests, but now the thought of it gives me hives. Here is a photos of something that does NOT give me hives...
These three little girls, ages 8, 6 and 1 do keep me extremely busy. My house never looks perfect. There is always laundry to be done, a dirty dish or seven in the sink, and something unidentified and sticky somewhere on the kitchen counter. There is toothpaste on the bathroom mirror, a little girl's sock in between the sofa cushions and a handful of crushed cheerios on the kitchen floor. But there is also love and a lot of laughter, and we wouldn't have it any other way. It truly is a wonderful, hectic, busy, meaningful life, and those little girls won't be little forever. Merry Christmas! Love, Meredith
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