Quality Time
When I woke up Wednesday morning, Ellie was already at work. I think she went in sometime around 7am, but I’m not sure since I didn’t wake up until 7:45. That’s the advantage of being a stay-at-home parent: I can wake up for my job whenever I want. Of course I also have to deal with three demanding clients who can call at any hour, so it’s not perfect.
I saw Ellie a short time later for the children’s pediatric appointment, but after that she didn’t come home until about 8pm. Not that she was home for the night; she was on-call for the night with plenty of work left to do. She just popped in for about an hour to say goodnight to her children. Oh, and me; of course she came home to see me too.
Her next trip home was 17 hours later, right before naptime. Having spent almost no time with her children in the past 40 hours, I knew she missed her babies, so I kept everyone awake as long as possible. I wanted her to enjoy some quality time, but we could only fend off the sandman for so long before sleep took over. The kids seemed pretty sleepy too, so I woke Ellie up, made her get off the couch and go to bed, and set our little minors in their appropriate sleeping quarters.
I knew Ellie needed a good long nap to recover from a hectic “day” of work. Unfortunately the twins, who take their afternoon nap in our bedroom, didn’t know that mommy needed her rest and spent most of their “nap” complaining in spite of the acetaminophen I loaded into them in the aftermath of their vaccinations. She eventually brought Ian into bed and snuggled him to sleep despite our firm stance against co-sleeping for fear of the increased risk of SIDS or the chance that we’ll raise a child who insists on sleeping in our bed.
When I pulled the twins out of the bedroom for feeding, I tried to keep everyone quiet so mommy could catch at least a couple hours of unbroken sleep. Abbie has been in a screeching mood recently, and I’m not sure if a few feet and a closed door made enough of a buffer to let stay asleep.
She emerged from the bedroom for good shortly after suppertime. She had to wake up from her nap so she could fall asleep in a couple hours. Plus she had a couple errands to run, not the least of which was grabbing something eat besides leftovers from Abbie’s birthday party. I figured she could use some one-on-one time with her daughter, and talked her into taking Abbie shopping with her. It was a great situation for everyone: Ellie and Abbie get to enjoy time together, and I get to enjoy watching the boys play in their stationary entertainers while actually getting some things done around the house.
The girls came home an hour later. Ellie immediately gave her a vitamin, one of her favorite treats, to calm her down. Abbie was horrible on their excursion,; Abbie bit, pinched, and screamed when Ellie held her, and ran away when mommy let her go. This behavior continued for the rest of the night with Abbie randomly walking up to Elle and pinching, until Ellie started pushing her away and threatening to send her to her room every time she toddled near. I spent the night keeping the two separate when I wasn’t busy trying to figure out how to calm a baby down from his vaccinations.
I have no idea what got into Abbie. She may have been punishing mommy for spending too much time away from home. Or she could have been trying to tell her something innocent with the only communication tools she has: Pinching, biting, and screaming. No matter what it was, I now know that working away from home for most of 40 consecutive hours isn’t entirely without its disadvantages.
I saw Ellie a short time later for the children’s pediatric appointment, but after that she didn’t come home until about 8pm. Not that she was home for the night; she was on-call for the night with plenty of work left to do. She just popped in for about an hour to say goodnight to her children. Oh, and me; of course she came home to see me too.
Her next trip home was 17 hours later, right before naptime. Having spent almost no time with her children in the past 40 hours, I knew she missed her babies, so I kept everyone awake as long as possible. I wanted her to enjoy some quality time, but we could only fend off the sandman for so long before sleep took over. The kids seemed pretty sleepy too, so I woke Ellie up, made her get off the couch and go to bed, and set our little minors in their appropriate sleeping quarters.
I knew Ellie needed a good long nap to recover from a hectic “day” of work. Unfortunately the twins, who take their afternoon nap in our bedroom, didn’t know that mommy needed her rest and spent most of their “nap” complaining in spite of the acetaminophen I loaded into them in the aftermath of their vaccinations. She eventually brought Ian into bed and snuggled him to sleep despite our firm stance against co-sleeping for fear of the increased risk of SIDS or the chance that we’ll raise a child who insists on sleeping in our bed.
When I pulled the twins out of the bedroom for feeding, I tried to keep everyone quiet so mommy could catch at least a couple hours of unbroken sleep. Abbie has been in a screeching mood recently, and I’m not sure if a few feet and a closed door made enough of a buffer to let stay asleep.
She emerged from the bedroom for good shortly after suppertime. She had to wake up from her nap so she could fall asleep in a couple hours. Plus she had a couple errands to run, not the least of which was grabbing something eat besides leftovers from Abbie’s birthday party. I figured she could use some one-on-one time with her daughter, and talked her into taking Abbie shopping with her. It was a great situation for everyone: Ellie and Abbie get to enjoy time together, and I get to enjoy watching the boys play in their stationary entertainers while actually getting some things done around the house.
The girls came home an hour later. Ellie immediately gave her a vitamin, one of her favorite treats, to calm her down. Abbie was horrible on their excursion,; Abbie bit, pinched, and screamed when Ellie held her, and ran away when mommy let her go. This behavior continued for the rest of the night with Abbie randomly walking up to Elle and pinching, until Ellie started pushing her away and threatening to send her to her room every time she toddled near. I spent the night keeping the two separate when I wasn’t busy trying to figure out how to calm a baby down from his vaccinations.
I have no idea what got into Abbie. She may have been punishing mommy for spending too much time away from home. Or she could have been trying to tell her something innocent with the only communication tools she has: Pinching, biting, and screaming. No matter what it was, I now know that working away from home for most of 40 consecutive hours isn’t entirely without its disadvantages.
posted by Matt at
11:18 PM
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