Motherhood is cleaning your way through a never-ending sea of bodily fluids, and tonight was a crowning moment on what has been a long and awful week.
After a morning of cleaning, a few hours of work, a miserable boy at a birthday party, and dinner with a high school friend during which I counted it a good thing that the nearest patrons were clearly deaf, I was tired by the time jammie time hit tonight. At 7 o'clock, Dowlan was still out working the census, but the kids and I occupied one couch through two fantastic episodes of Doctor Who.
Charlie had crashed on the couch and I moved him to his bed. The girls brush their teeth and Melody heads to bed to listen to the next chapter of Farmer Boy. Dixie goes to the bathroom and begins howling.
Problem is, bedtime often invokes howling. It's hard to know when to take it seriously. She wanders into the living room, lies on the the trampoline with a pillow, and tries to sleep there. I prod her back into her room and she begins begging for food.
I get her an apple and start reading about Almanzo Wilder and his family preparing for the winter. I put the book away, go to turn on the air and return to find a rather sick girl. I'll spare you details.
When we moved the girls out of toddler beds, I saved the crib mattresses, thinking we might need them for a night when family is in town and we want to stick the girls on the floor. This is the second time this week I have been very happy to be able to place a plastic-covered mattress draped with towels in the middle of a wooden floor for the night.
While I was writing, I heard her stir and went in to check on her. She's a sweaty-headed little thing, but seems to not be feeling too badly.
(For those keeping up on other matters, Charlie had a good two-hour stretch in which he was acting very Charlie-like. His ARD has been rescheduled for the next week and my advocate told me not to worry--she's not surprised and we'll get an external evaluation. I also have an appointment June 24th with the geneticist to get the run-down on the missing chromosomal material that Charlie and I both have. I have another 7 work days at my full-time temp job and Dowlan is still working the census. Kindergarten graduation is coming up and I can't quite believe it.)
1 comment:
I thought I was the only one who still had crib mattresses!! My girls are 8 and 6 and they each have their crib mattress under their big bed. They are great when they are sick- we spent 4 days camped out with me on the couch and them each on their mattresses on the floor in the family room.
Hope Dixie feels better soon, and glad Charlie is getting over his head bonk!
Kimberly Walker
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