Seeking the formula for parenting

Blogger Content: September 2006 - April 2010

Flexible Links

My Blogging Inspiration
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Skiplovey

Slouching Past 40

Flexible Affiliations

- Crazy/Hip Blog-Mamas +
(Random Site)

Sunday, April 22, 2007

And another child makes 3

I haven't posted in the past couple of days because I've just been really tired. Normally I blog at night after the kids are asleep, but for the past two nights I've fallen asleep pretty early. On Friday I took the boys to an egg hunt that was run by the moms group I'm in, although my older son (OS) apparently thought it was a cat hunt because he spent most of the event chasing the hostess's cats. This was followed immediately by what was basically an all-day playdate at a friend's house. It was a lot of fun, and the boys and I really enjoyed ourselves. Unfortunately, I got sunburned, and OS definitely looked a little pink. Despite the fact that we have very pale skin and my boys have Irish names, we really aren't Irish!

Let me just go off-track for a minute to say that before I got pregnant with my younger son (YS), I was certain that I only wanted to have 2 kids. As much as I enjoy being at home with the boys, I declined my acceptance to vet school in April of 2005 to be able to do it (it was a little more complicated because OS was in Early Intervention at the time etc.). Anyhow, this time of year I always wonder what vet school would be like and wonder if I made the right decision. I know it's mom guilt, and I would be doubting myself just as much if I had gone to vet school. I am really excited though for the day that I can apply and hopefully be accepted again. That's why it's been such a surprise to me that I have an itch to have another baby. It's just a tiny itch, and in reality there's no reason why I couldn't have 3 kids and be able to go to vet school at some point (although it scares me to think how much all of that would cost!). I'm sure it is a combination of the fact that my baby will be a year soon, and I'm heading up a big yard sale for my moms group that has provided me with the golden opportunity to get rid of baby things I don't need. I mean there really is no reason to save a baby bathtub...or is there?

Back to my story. Saturday was a big day for us. We had 3 kids! I babysat another friend's daughter as part of the babysitting cult...I mean co-op... that I belong to. We had a terrific time. OS and YS have been taking a Music Together class with the Big Giraffe. Their teacher had said it was fine for Suzy and me to come with them that day. Everyone seemed to have a good time, although there were a few challenges with YS munching on the musical instruments and OS trying to hide them under the Big Giraffe's legs. However, Suzy behaved perfectly. Also, OS did have his feathers ruffled a few times when he saw me dancing with Suzy. In fact at one point, the teacher ended up taking YS from the Big Giraffe so that he could carry OS around the make-believe merry go around that we were circling.

Since we were out all day Friday, I had neither gone to the grocery store nor asked the Big Giraffe to go to the grocery store before unexpectedly dozing off on Friday night. When we saw a sign for Friendly's on the way back, we considered it a "sign" that we just had to eat lunch there!

YS fell asleep in the car, so the Big Giraffe ended up holding him for most of the meal. At the same time, OS kept claiming that YS did not in fact want to be in Friendly's at all, but wanted to be left in the car. When YS opened his eyes and expressed interest in a meal, OS insisted that he was still asleep. Meanwhile, Suzy continued to behave perfectly, including offering to share food with OS and, once he was awake, YS.

It sometime after YS was comfortably in the high chair that the Big Giraffe told me that he had come to an important decision: he supported the idea of having 3 kids. Really!!!! He hasn't been on board with this whole notion of three kids before, and, to be fair, I'm not sure that's what I really want. I was really surprised when he said that. Yes, we could have three kids as long as we traded the first two kids in. OS, YS, and I were not amused. O.K. maybe OS was busy eating French fries and whining about something and YS was shoveling mac and cheese in his mouth and in the process knocking a ton of it on the floor, but I know that if they were able to understand what he was saying, they would not have been amused! Throughout the conversation, Suzy continued to behave perfectly.

On the way back to the house, all 3 of the children fell asleep. When the Big Giraffe carried OS into the house, he woke up and demanded stories and said that he was not tired and needed a different blanket on his bed, specifically YS's blanket. When the Big Giraffe carried YS into the house, he woke up and appeared to want a bottle, but would not drink from it. When the Big Giraffe carried Suzy into the house, she murmured "Carry me," sleepily and slept quietly in the pack-and-play.

When Suzy's parents arrived to pick her up, the Big Giraffe intercepted them in the yard to tell them how their daughter behaved like a perfect angel. Suzy's mother thanked him and said that OS was always extremely well behaved when he visited her. The Big Giraffe let that go without comment, but minutes later he saw the real Suzy, when her parents asked her to get into the car so they could leave. "I don't want to!" she announced loudly, while dancing around the driveway. As they were leaving, Suzy's mother commented, "They always behave well at someone else's home with someone else's parents."

Big Giraffe's Lesson Learned: Two's company. Three's a crowd.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Never say "never".

posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:28 PM 3 comments

3 Comments:

At 4/22/2007 11:04 PM, super des said…

My boyfriend has the same rule about cats - sure we could get another IF we got rid of the first. They think they're so funny.

If you DO decide to go for three, tell Big Giraffe to give you a girl. :)
At 4/23/2007 1:41 PM, soccer mom in denial said…

I too never thought I would be the mother of three. Someone I don't know well stopped me and asked how I knew three was the right number for my family (big assumption on her part that the pregnancy wasn't an "accident").

I told her that it felt like someone was missing in our family. Our boys are full of life and energy but there was someone missing. And after three years, it is hard to imagine our family without her!
At 4/24/2007 3:37 PM, Nancy said…

You almost got me there with that title! I thought maybe you had BIG news!!

Two is it for us. I was thinking of a third about this time last year, but I waited it out and now I'm perfectly content with my two boys. Besides, our new house only has two bedrooms ;)

My Profile

Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
See my complete profile