At my house, I refer to the time between 5pm and 8pm as Suicide Hour. Sure, it's actually three hours, but you get the point. Once Miriam leaves, the boys say their goodbyes at the door, and when they turn around to face me, I get flashbacks to "The Shining". Really. Sometimes it is that bad.
Greame gets home at about six thirty so I have an hour and a half to bathe / feed / entertain kids and cook dinner. So. Usually they play on the kitchen floor while I make dinner. By play I mean running up and down the passage / nagging and pulling at my legs / trying to unscrew the gas container / trying to kill the hamster / chewing on the toilet brush in the bathroom / throwing things out of the kitchen cupboard/ fighting over a juice bottle. Kids can be really gross, noisy, unreasonable and sometimes just plain stupid. Truth. Doing a backflip off the couch is stupid. Playing with a spider. Eating soil. Drinking dirty bathwater. Stupid. Boys are boys and it can't be helped.
Having two boys at this small an age gap is really for the brave. Or naive. They are twenty-two months apart and right now, they are both toddlers. I love the unicorns out of them, but sometimes being the only girl in the house gets to me. Last night, I was cleaning up baby vomit, changing bedding and bathing post-vomit toddler until nine-thirty pm Graeme is sick and was man-down at like seven pm. I really do laugh at them in those situations, I do. Even when Noah kicked me in the face until two am (must get king size bed). Changing sheets at three am again. Not my favorite part of motherhood.
So tonight I just sat on the kitchen counter (the only safe place in the house) and just watched them causing chaos. Not dealing. It's been a super busy day work-wise too. At seven pm, G convinced me to go out for a bit, get some air, have a glass of wine, relax. He would put them to bed.
So here I am, at one of my favorite restaurants. On my own. Great music playing. Great wine. I'm going to get us a pizza and go home just now. I feel so much better, more balanced and relaxed. Working moms don't have it easy. The rush never stops, the balance is almost unattainable. Sometimes just an hour to yourself changes everything. It's so important. I don't even feel bad, at all. They love their time with their dad and having his full attention.
I'm ready for the weekend now. Let's do this.
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