Judgmental

Me, that is.

Of the people who were in SuperTarget tonight at 9:27 PM with their approx 2 yr olds. All three of you.

Go home, put your kids to bed, and find some other time to do your shopping.

...ah, I feel better now.

Cha-ching

I don't know why I'm fretting so much about the Wii.

I just ordered a new set of cello strings. 'Bout the same price as the Wii, and will last about 6 months, if I'm lucky.

Why did I ever try the Larsens?? Now I can't go back to anything else, and I think they're the most expensive strings on the market.

Sigh.

To Wii or not to Wii

Awhile back, Pete was reading an article about the Wii, which he was saying made him pretty interested in getting one. He hadn't been all that interested prior, but whatever it was impressed him. Mental note made.

I wanted to get him one for Father's Day, but as many of you know, Wiis are a bit thin on the ground these days. After months of staring at a blank spot on the shelf at Target, I walked in on Sunday and asked if they actually ever got some in stock. He moved over to show me a stack of 100 Wii units they had just gotten in that morning. I bought one on the spot.

The next day I don't even remember how I got on the topic, but Pete made some comment about wanting a PS3 because there's going to be a Top Gear game coming out (a British car show he's crazy about). I nonchalantly asked him if he'd rather have a PS3 or a Wii, and he said a PS3.

So now what do I do??

Not every blade of grass is greener...

The worst thing about being a stay-at-home parent is definitely the isolation. It gets really tough when the most meaningful conversation you have during the day is trying to explain the concept of a bank to a 2 year old. Today is one of those days.

When I first quit my job, that year was really tough. I hadn't really met other moms or my neighbors, so it was largely just Kate and I staring at each other all day. As I started getting some activities scheduled and as Kate got older, things got much better. I'd reached the point where I was pretty "independent" again. Kate didn't nap and was a trooper about running errands, so we could pretty much go where I wanted when I wanted. During the school year, we had activities scheduled 4 days a week (the 5th was grocery shopping). We were busy and it was fun. Now I feel I am starting over.

Knowing Elizabeth was coming in June, I purposefully didn't sign up for summer activities. I figured I would be as physically out-of-it as I was after Kate's birth and it would be more than I could handle. Wrong. I also thought, since it was summer, we could be outside all day long together and it would be idyllic. Wrong again.

Kate is bouncing off the walls the last couple months, not having more stimulation. She's watching more TV than I could ever admit to the internet. We can't be outside that much, because it's too hot for Elizabeth (and I find the heat much tougher to bear with all this extra weight). Elizabeth is a lousy on-the-go sleeper. For her to have a decent nap, she needs to be at home in her crib. Suddenly, I am house-bound again and it is killing me. I am tired from the night wakings and I find myself crabbing at Kate in a way that makes me so sad. I am a shrew of a mom these days.

I spend way too much time on the computer - I think trying to feel connected to something. (Thank God for the computer - I can't even imagine what it was like for my mom - home with 4 little kids with no car, computer, PBS Kids or Nick Jr.) There just isn't anyone to talk to. Everyone I know is either working or busy with their own kids. And I should be busier with mine than I am, but I just can't seem to get engaged without that activity in the morning to get my butt in gear.

I think this post could he written by a lot of stay at home parents, but this self-pity party was inspired by something specific. I had arranged for my niece Maddie to come over and get Kate outside today so I could clean and do laundry. I called my sister this morning and she had totally forgotten and made other plans (my sister's completely insane self-absorbed schedule is a whole 'nother post). I don't know who was more disappointed - me or Kate. I feel just terrible that she is cooped up in the house with me all day. I am so mad at my sister - and I know it's probably not fair - but I had canceled having my other niece Dana come over because Jen had been pushing me to ask Maddie, and then bailed on me. I just felt like that was going to be a bright spot in the week and it fell through because my own sister completely forgot that she had made a commitment to me. Nice.

So I'm scraping through the day. I was going to work out when Maddie was here, but instead I am on the sofa eating Dove chocolate (the 50 lbs. I have to lose are also a whole 'nother post). It's gloomy and muggy outside, and I really can't call my mother yet again, so it's coming out here. I know I'm just being a whiner. I know full well how many parents would love to be able to stay home with their kids. I totally get how lucky I am that this is something we can do.

But right now the thought of back to back meetings and more emails than I could possibly read sounds pretty appealing.

Yeouch...

I walked into the nursing bra section of Target today where a 60-ish woman was shopping. When she saw me, she said, "Oh good, you'll know about this. My daughter is 4 months pregnant with her second. What kind of bra would be good?" A long conversation followed about maternity vs. nursing bras, underwire vs. not, and the need of a lined bra cup when you're pregnant (which no "maternity" bras seem to have).

She then noticed the kids in my cart and asked their ages. "2 1/2 years and 7 weeks," I replied.

"Seven weeks!" she exclaimed. "And you're pregnant again already?"

I informed her as politely as I could that I have yet to regain my washboard abs since Elizabeth was born, (but geez, thanks for pointing that out).

Just plain mean.

It's a Zoo Out There

Today I took the girls and met some friends at Como Zoo for an outing. It was really a beautiful day for that kind of thing - not too hot, but nice and sunny. It went pretty well, over all, considering it was my first big outing like this with both of them.

Some things I learned from this excursion:

• I love my BOB Duallie stroller. It totally rocks. And it really does fit through doors.
  
• You can never have too many snacks with you.
  
• It's darn near impossible to use a public restroom with a toddler and an infant (and a diaper bag, etc.). I had to pee from 10AM until 2PM.
• Zoos geared towards children still somehow manage to be built in a way that totally blocks them from seeing squat from the stroller. They have to be picked up. What the heck??
• Watching Kate's little hand squeeze under the sunshade to pat Lizzy on the head when she fussed was about the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

Nice to be back in the week after our busy weekend. Cul-de-sac party on Friday night. Meigan came to visit with her adorable girls on Saturday AM. Friends for dinner that night. Pete's Grandmother's 90th birthday party on Sunday. Ugh. Never thought I'd reach a point in my life where I look forward to weekdays as a chance to "relax".

Speaking of which, I'm off to bed. G'night.

Please stop posting about bugs

Okay, between Carrie's wood ticks and Meigan's centipedes I have the creepy crawlies like I can't describe. I swear there are little bugs crawling all over me and am going a bit psycho about it.

Please, no more buggy posts. Or at least give me a few weeks to recover...

Yeeeech (shudders) Compared to those two stories, I'll happily take the poop.

The Poop Hunt (or, The Glamorous Life of a SAHM)

I just spent ~30 minutes on a poop hunt. Kate had such a big one that it went up her back. Then, she leaned against something and it kind of stuck there (she's in a dress, no less). I didn't realize it, and then picked her up and carried her up to change her - only then to realize we had been dropping teeny bits of poop the whole way...

I've had more fun in my life.