Tuesday, November 13, 2012

moments…

Ben is sitting on my lap quietly. His hair smells faintly of vomit from the baby tent that he insists on napping in, even though it still smells of vomit. A thorough cleaning with many, many Lysol wipes and time outside in the fresh air only did so much, I guess.

We woke up to the vomit tent and pukey baby yesterday. He’s been sitting listlessly in laps quite a bit since then, forehead hot from running a low grade fever.

David was home for Veteran’s Day on Monday (thank you, God, for government holidays), so I took the big boys to their first homeschool gymnastics class anyway. They’d already missed the first one of the month because of colds. Evan’s “happy” of the day at dinner last night was that he got to jump in the foam pit. His “saddy” was that he didn’t get to do a somersault. Next week, big boy. Seth prayed this morning that God would let him know when we’re going back to gymnastics.

I’m letting them watercolor at the kitchen table while I type. There may be a time when this isn’t stress inducing, but now is not it. Evan’s paper gets soaked through in about 2.4 seconds, and there’s a reason why the paper towels are next to him, biding their time.

We’re all about steam and force and the water cycle in homeschool right now. It’s “Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel” week. High point so far? Bouncing around as gas molecules, huddling into a tightly packed ball when Mommy yells “Become a solid!”, and flowing around when she yells “Liquid!” Low point? The pinwheel will not turn when held next to a steam kettle, no matter what angle I hold it at. I think that experiment must be a cruel joke.

Energy levels are low around here. I’ve hit one of those points in the life cycle of a mom of littles when daily living feels like slogging through mud. I can still enjoy the beauty of the moments, but I wonder when I’ll ever feel rested and full of energy again. David and I use every minute of our meager rest times to rest, and the living room furniture slowly gets covered in a fine layer of dust.

It’s almost naptime. They’re all going down soon, and I’m going to gulp in the quiet with my cup of tea and my book… Evan just spilled the water. I’m outta here.

3 comments:

Shelly said...

I'm sure this isn't a brilliant idea I came up with, but it works for Oliver. I give him the watercolor tray with a drop of water already in each color. Then he just has to put his brush in the color and paint. I have to add water every so often and a medicine dropper works well. He still spills some, but since he only has a small amount of water it isn't too bad.

Ellen said...

Shelly, that's an AWESOME idea. I'm doing that next time.

Rachel said...

You know, I've felt like I was moving through Jello for about two months now... It JUST dawned on me this Sunday that it is my allergy medicine doing it, so maybe your meds are making you sluggish too...