Before you get too excited, I’m not a Dylan fan. I just need to throw that out there before the Official Bob Dylan Fan Club starts emailing me. In all honestly, I liken his voice to what I imagine a possum would sound like after it’s been hit and run by a car.
That said, our lives sure have been changing.
Matthew is rolling right along with his potty training, collecting stickers and praise from everyone in his life. I am pleased.
I looked into a preschool for him, at the recommendation of a very old (and very good) friend, and, I’m embarrassed to say I think I like it. When and if I pull the trigger, he’ll start in the fall. With this (potential) decision will come logistical issues we’ll need to work out, and a figurative, if not literal, leap of faith by Yours Truly.
The school is very parent participation-oriented, an aspect about which I may be both excited and terrified. Among the activities in which parents are expected to participate is Snack. So I’d be the Snack Mom every so often, which conjures images of frantic trips to the 24-hour Wal*Mart to find gluten-, nut-, dairy-, and shellfish-free snacks. I’d be lying if I said I was looking forward to that.
The school also provides field trips and welcomes special guests, two activities for which I imagine Matthew would be absolutely out of his mind. I don’t enjoy the potential complications for me, but I also feel I can’t rob him of what I assume would be really great times for him. Hmph. Parenthood.
The most significant change that’s taken place, however, over the past month or so, has been that my daughter has begun sleeping alone and through the night. I knew it would only take a few years.
After a few miserable, sleepless nights, and a few naptimes during which either my husband or I was entrusted with the duty of ’standing guard’, we finally and permanently got the job done. The large-scale implication of my daughter sleeping like a normal person is that we get more sleep, and, in turn have more time (and energy).
And the large-scale implication of that is my husband and I have been able to accomplish a lot more at home.
And the large-scale implication of that… I’m just kidding. I just wanted to feel what it’s like to be a Russian Nesting doll.
Never mind that.
My husband and I have graduated to Phase II of the Deluxe DIY Home Renovation, which is proceeding decidedly more smoothly than Phase I. We’ve replaced a few appliances (one out of necessity, the other out of being disgusting), painted a few rooms, and have a few more items to tackle. In the process, we’ve made it our mission to wipe away all of the builder-grade beige from this house. How do you live in a house for twelve years and neverchange the wall color? Or anything? But, I digress.
Another favorable side effect of the more sleep/less chaos scenario is the fact that I’ve been able to shop for clothes, paint my nails (can you believe it?!), and care for my skin.
My new 47-step beauty routine seems to be working quite well. I haven’t had skin this blemish-free and even since high school. Which is fantastic, because I’ll be just in time for wrinkles. This little issue only took me sixteen years to resolve. I’m not bitter.
My husband and I have been out to dinner three times in two months, which is big. I am consistently able to maintain a moderate level of cleanliness in the house, and able to retreat in the evening without fearing cracking my knuckles or sighing too loudly. Good deal.
With all this overwhelmingly positive news, you may fear I’d gloss over the negative, but you know me, I’d never do that.
The negative? It feels like I just got my kids sleeping through the night (see what I did there?), and now we’re planning for one to go off to Big Boy School. And you know, they’re just going to go down like dominoes. One will be potty trained, and then the next two will be trained in rapid succession (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since we’ve spent roughly the GDP of Estonia on diapers), and when the twins see Matthew at school, of course they will want to attend as well.
When they say raising kids goes by fast, I didn’t realize they meantthis fast. We’ll tackle this issue in a future therapy session.
So, though I may have a few pouty, pensive, whiny moments over this spring and summer, I’m looking forward to what fall has in store for us. And what the store will have for me in the fall.
True life is lived when tiny changes occur.
― Leo Tolstoy
