How many of us moms (stay home moms and working moms) say that phrase "Just 5 minutes"
It's very rare that we get what we ask for. Very.
Just 5 minutes to go to bathroom.
Just 5 minutes to shower.
Just 5 minutes to, well, do anything!
And, that 5 minutes, when we get it, we are rushing to do whatever we need to do at that moment before our children come running back with their quips and antics, begging for the attention they need from the mother they adore. And, who can deny them? They just want love. They don't think about what mommy needs (at least not until they are WAY older). They don't understand that mommy has a life of her own (not really anymore) and a mind of her own (which is now constantly filled with everyone else's info, schedules, agendas, to do lists, etc)
Let me tell you about my morning.
My children gave me a great gift and don't even know it.
Let me start with some background.
We have a 2 month old baby, who was 2 months early, so that makes his basically still a newborn. Since we was a preemie and spent about a month in the hospital, he still needs a lot of attention and can't do some of the things that other 2 month olds can do (like sleep for more than 4 hours at a time)
So, I am in mommy zombie mode. You know, the one where you look like crap from lack of sleep, feel like your days have all run together so you don't know what day it is, and forget personal hygiene- you are too busy trying to take care of everyone else to take care of yourself (unless you are going out or meeting friends- then you quickly get yourself together to make it look like you have everything under control)
My other 2 children are 4 and 8. All my children are boys. The 8 year is old enough to be self sufficient, but he either refuses to or pretends to be dumb so he doesn't have to do anything. He also fakes ignorance a lot to get out of chores and helping me, even though in the quite times of the night he tries to tell me that he knows he needs to do more to help and will do more tomorrow (I don't get my hopes up after hearing said phrase for months with no change). My 4 year old acts even more helpless. This is possibly my fault. When he was a baby, my hubby and I worked opposite shifts. He worked days and I worked nights. So, he always had someone there. Plus, my guilt over never spending any time with his older brother because I worked so much when he was a baby made me coddle to him and now he's a "clinger". He needs help with EVERYTHING.
So, now we have a bit of background, let's get to today.
Its starts with last night.
My newborn decided last night that he wanted to be awake from 10pm until 2am. EATING. He ate A LOT. I was glad for it, since I want him to grow as much as possible. I honestly have no idea how he hate more than his own weight in that 4 hour time span, which was half of what he usually takes in during an entire day. I prayed he would finally sleep for a few hours (since he is usually up at 4 am to eat again).
I woke up at 8am and he was still asleep. It was the first time in over a month that I woke up on my own instead of waking up to a crying baby. I checked him to make sure he was ok (ever the worrier, my first thought was "Oh my GOD! Why didn't he wake up? Is something wrong?"), and he was fine and sleeping. So, I left him alone and went back to sleep. He was up around 830/9 to eat. It was bliss to get to sleep.
I figured since he slept so long long earlier that he would be wide awake and ready to play. This was not so. He went right back to sleep after eating for another 2 hours. I decided to take advantage.
What about my older 2 children, you ask?
They had come in at 8 when they heard me get up to feed the baby to ask (they actually whispered too btw) if they could watch a movie. I agreed since, when i went downstairs to get a bottle warmed up for the baby, I saw that my 8 year old had already been up, turned off the alarm, and took his dog outside and had her baby gated up in the kitchen for her paws to dry. I told them to eat breakfast first, then they could watch a movie (btw I took all TV and movies and electronics away for the summer- partly because they have been rotten and partly because its summer and they belong outside). When I came down the stairs at 11 to get another bottle and start my day, they had actually finished eating without me nagging them to eat. Most of it was even cleaned up, too! I was shocked. I typically spend about an hour cleaning up after them. They were happily watching TV together with the dog and, get this, no one was fighting or hurting each other! They were all (I say all because the dog eggs them on sometimes because she's a big german shepherd puppy who loves to rough house too) getting along quietly. I really could not believe my eyes and ears!
So, we all sat together, watching goosebumps, until I was done feeding the baby. Well, its lunch time at this point, right. I was in the mood for breakfast food, but, as a mom, I cater to my boys and asked what they wanted for lunch. They didn't want anything.
What?! My bottomless pit children didn't want to eat? Well, what to do now? The baby was back asleep, I was hungry, and no one else wanted to eat. My older 2 also disappeared upstairs BY THEMSELVES (meaning I didn't have to tell them what to do) to play. Wow.
So begins my wonderful gift from my children that they didn't even know that they gave me.
I wasn't expecting any amount of time. My newborn doesn't typically sleep for long during the day.
I made what I wanted to eat. I made coffee for myself. I made cookies (!) while cooking breakfast. I did some laundry while the food was cooking. I cleaned up. Still no kids.
I sat down at my table at my leisure and ate hot food I just cooked (not microwaved warmed up- fresh made and hot). I enjoyed my hot eggs, over easy, sprinkled with pepper and garlic salt. I ate way too much perfectly cooked hot bacon (not too crispy, not too soft). And, I enjoyed warm toast, smeared with a smattering of grape jelly or apple butter. I drank my cup of hot coffee with cream and sugar (well, not the entire cup- I'm still pump and feeding my baby breastmilk). And, I even had a small glass of cold (not room temp) orange juice. I enjoyed my meal while looking out our large (still dirty, oh well) glass sliding doors into our (scattered with toys, clothes, and mud since it rained a lo yesterday) yard and enjoyed the beauty of the day. I finished everything without one child screaming, fighting, crying, or breaking anything. I can't remember the last time I had a moment like this.
Any mother reading this is probably thinking about how fantastic this sounds. Trust me: it was fantastic. It was blissful. I got 1 whole hour to myself! I feel completely re-energized. I am ready to take on the day (or whats left of it). Granted, I have a huge to do list that I now need to tackle. And, while I was typing this, my children have broken the silence, fought, got over it, ran through the house, asked for a bunch of stuff, the baby needing changed and fed, the dog needed to go out, and now my older 2 are outside in the pool.
The silence doesn't last forever when your house is a circus, but I wouldn't change it for the world. And, maybe my kids will read this some day and wonder how they could've given me a gift and not known. Or, they may think their mom is crazy, if they don't think so already. But, such is life.
I got my 5 minutes and it was great.
