Beware of the Sleep Deprived Mom

At the last bookfair my school held, I picked up a cute little sticker that said, "Beware of the sleep deprived mom!" I bought two, thinking that some one or other of my dearheart girlfriends with a kid (kids) needed one, too.  After carrying this little sticker around in my day-planner-calendar-keep-me-sane book for several months, I've come to the possible conclusion that perhaps, just perhaps, I should change the name of this blog to that quote.  It might better fit my life right now...

So, dear blog, it's been awhile.  And while I do have some Jane Austen blogging to do--I have been reading in my hiatus--I also have some mom updates, thoughts and ruminations for this blog entry.

• First, let's be upfront.  A hiatus from blogging?  Sleep deprivation?  Tums in my purse?  Yes, this sleep deprived mom will be going from just a little bit of sleep deprivation to a significant amount at the end of October with the arrival of Baby Boy.  I've started suggesting names like Fitzwilliam or Darcy, but I just get these strange looks from DH.  Hmmmm...At least I'm not suggesting Willoughby or Wickham! Geez!

• Not sure how I feel about this article: Regrets of a Stay-At-Home Mom. My gut reaction:  Can you say bitter much about your divorce, lady?  

•  Here and there I get it in my head that I (read that as we:  daughter and I) need a craft project.  There have been several this winter/spring.  (Think foam monkey Valentine's, felt projects etc. We did forgo May Day this year. I was disappointed but too exhausted to care.  There's always next year.) I thought I'd share two here.... 

Somewhere around Miss L's 2nd birthday, I saw this project in a magazine and couldn't help myself.  Yes, that's a homemade felt cornucopia!  Thank you, DH, for helping to cut out the shapes!  Seriously, this bunch of veggies and fruit has been a great addition to our kitchen playtimes.  Miss L has been making stews and soups galore!  They are great! And better than the cornucopia is the little toy grocery basket I found at the dollar store--we grocery shop at our house quite a bit with this basket and set up felt goodies.

 

 Elmo Cupcakes for the 2nd birthday!  Really cute, but so many on a tray is a bit frightening, yes?  These are about as shnazzy as I do when it comes to cakes/cupcakes.  I am thinking about making cupcakes a birthday tradition at our house. 

• We finally had a first solo overnight for the kiddo at Grandma and Grandpa's this February.  Everyone did fine and really it was mom (me, not my mom) who needs to learn to chill.  Sigh...

• At our church kids can start Sunday school at 2.  We started attending in January and it is here that I point out the "we."  As in L and I.  Together.  Or else SCREAMING would occur.  Miss L thinks Sunday school rocks and is pretty excited when church is done.  She might be mute during the whole of class, but rehashes the entire hour in the car on the way home.  We've spent a lot of time talking about how in the fall she will go to Sunday school by herself without Mommy.  Stay tuned to find out how that works for us... 

• As we've reached the mid-twos here, I feel it is my duty to record 2 of the following events.  Both of which had DH and I rolling on the floor in laughter and somehow cringing at the same time.  At one point Miss L was complaining that her bottom hurt.  She said she needed "the diaper cream."  The next thing we knew she'd disappeared and DH went to find her.  From the kitchen I heard, "Some assistance here, please!"  Miss L had found the diaper cream, taken off her diaper and was happily smearing it on her bottom.   

Similarly, I'd hardly had a chance to blink and ask, "Did you poop?" one afternoon (me again in   the kitchen and her in the living room) and was drying my hands when I heard a door close and realized it was the bathroom door.  I ran to the bathroom to discover said child, diaperless and dumping the contents of her diaper into the toilet to flush away.   After both incidents we had to talk about asking Mommy or Daddy for help with these tasks.  Oh, such a big little person!

• And finally, we did our first trip involving an airplane with Miss L this spring.  We went to Ann Arbor to celebrate the wedding of a good friend and knew that the 14-16 hour drive wasn't in the cards for us with toddler in tow.  While flying might be a big deal to some folks, it is for us--or for me at least.  The older I get, the more I hate flying.  Usually I take some "mild tranquilizers"  as my doctor puts it (I tend to make myself sick).  This time, no such luck given my expanding waistline.  Instead, I bucked up with a smile on my face and let DH sit next to the kiddo on the plane. We went armed with quiet activities, but really flying out all we needed was a snack and the window seat!  Seriously, I was about to get out the Elmo DVD's or Follow That Bird to keep me occupied on both flights...

Miss L was a weekend trooper, given 3 days sans naps and did reasonably well on the plane ride home. She was just a bit grouchier as we made our decent, but 3 days without a nap will do that do a kid.  We had a great time celebrating with our friends.  DH sang some of his best man speech.  (Truly priceless! He's thankful I didn't record it on the camera and I'm kicking myself.) We were thankful for the extra assistance of my in-laws at the reception (Miss L can spot a park/playground a MILE away or just next door, thank you, Grandpa!)  We are also thankful for the holding up of our GPS (it's got some charging issues) and its magically ability to point us in the direction of a park in an unknown neighborhood when it was just what we needed or an Arby's for that matter...And I called it, Miss L was asleep by the time we were pulling out of the park and ride parking lot in our own car. 

And so with those thoughts and ruminations, I click "publish post"  dear blog. I think it will be the beginning of a new tag here at JAA.  So if you see this tag and can't handle its lack of Janeness, well, I'm sure there's a Jane quote for that but I don't have the energy to find it because I need a nap.

~With Love, the sleep deprived mom on a restricted caffeine diet, aka a Jane Austen Addict.