Every once in a while or every ten minutes depending on who I'm talking to (KAREN) (jk), the question comes up "when are you going to have another baby?" And from a spiritual side I want to say that we'll pray about it diligently and God will let us know when the time is right (if ever). From a totally carnal and lazy human side I want to say I DON'T WANT TO START OVER!
I had a conversation with Gretchen the other day about how it's even hard to find time to take a shower when you have a newborn. I didn't want to burst her bubble but that continues...for years. But I remember the newborn stage quite well when Craig would come home and be all like, "eww what's that smell?" and then I'd burst into tears (hormones) and start screaming (me, just being me) that in case he had forgotten, we have a two week old and I can't take a shower anytime I want like him and maybe he should just count himself lucky I still let him live in my house after WHAT HE DID (getting me pregnant...).
But no seriously...yeah...that about sums it up. I remember being so glad when mom, dad or Bec would come down so I could at least go brush my teeth and put my contacts in. Maybe we just had it harder than most new parents because we had the extra challenge of never leaving our baby in the room alone with our cats lest one of them suck his breath...
Showering has become easier but it's still not foolproof. Today I told Coop to pick out one toy that he had to come in the bathroom with me while I showered. He reluctantly grabbed the nearest tractor and trudged to the bathroom muttering "oh man..." I quickly thought it over. Okay he's two...he's pretty mature for his age, maybe he could be left unattended while I take a shower and get ready. (See the last time I *thought* he was old enough to do this it ended in me walking out of the bathroom to see him swallow something and all he would say was "yummy money" and we had to check poop for a week, so maybe that's why I was reluctant for this alone time).
"Fine I said, I'll put on Scooby Doo and you can watch that while I'm in the shower but I'm going to call your name and you have to come to the bathroom and check in with me, letting me know you're okay, alright?" "Oh-tayy" he said merrily.
The first check in went like clock work. I called his name, he peeked in the door and said "Hi mommy!" I relaxed. I started to actually enjoy the first shower I'd had in a long time that didn't involve things like toddler toys being randomly thrown at the curtain or refereeing Coop and the cats chasing each other through the bathroom.
Then I got nervous. Had I remembered to lock the door? Was the stove off? Had I left out any sharp objects or things that could be easily swallowed?
"Cooper?" I yelled. No response. I tried to calm down, probably everything was fine. "Cooper?!" Nothing. Okay Shannon, don't let your imagination run away with you, PROBABLY a mountain lion didn't bust through your glass door and is currently trying to attack your helpless son, with whom you left no sharp objects with to protect himself. "COOPER? GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW OR I'M TURNING OFF SCOOBY DOO!" He comes running in, "Nooooo mommy!" Oh so you are alive? You fended off the mountain lion? "Okay go back and watch scooby doo and come the next time I call you." He walked out of the bathroom and slammed the door! Are you kidding me, Mr. Attitude? Did we skip the terrible two's and go straight to the moody teenager stage?!
So to sum up, I successfully took a shower today with no major disasters.
We're out of the bottle stage. I no longer spend half of my grocery budget on formula. We sleep all night, every night. I haven't had to purchase diapers in over a month (hallelujah!) and now I get to take showers again...
To start over would be absolutely crazy. Insane. Impossible.
But then I see baby Jaxon and he's so cuddly and he smells soooooo good!
And then I see Cooper and he's all like being crazy, asking for a scooby snack, running around and cracking me up and in that instance when people ask when we're going to have another baby I can honestly say "We're set. We're good!"
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