Domestic Therapy

I'm all for formal counseling when the occasion calls for it, but I think there are times when less expensive forms of therapy can be substituted. Like cleaning the shower.

During our oldest daughter's quiet time and our youngest daughter's cat nap yesterday afternoon, I cleaned the shower. It was awesome. It was one of those times when experts would have advised me to "sleep while the baby's sleeping", and indeed that is the advice I would likely have given to another mother. My need for sleep is very real right now*, but yesterday afternoon I had a greater need. The need to clean. It wasn't even so much a need to have a clean shower (although there was that). It was a need to clean the shower. Asking my husband or mother-in-law or a friend to do it, which I know I could have done, wouldn't have fulfilled the real need. I should mention that I generally loathe cleaning the shower. It's just about my least favorite chore. Yesterday, though, it was just what the doctor ordered.

Tomorrow I hope the doctor orders Starbucks.

*Not as great as my husband's need for sleep, which is going largely unmet as he insists that I sleep during the baby's most wide awake hours, 12:00-2:00 am. I might be spoiled.

Curiosity

After having been told for probably two years that she should not drink bath water, my daughter arrived at an inquiry. As I was washing her hair during her bath the other day, she asked quite indignantly:

"Mommy, why are you putting the water that is yucky for me to drink on my hair?"

Our Newest Someone

Last Wednesday evening we welcomed our beautiful Baby Girl into the world. She is practically perfect in every way. (Movie reference? Anyone?) Delivery was wonderful - no, truly. Is it weird to say that I enjoyed it? It was quiet and peaceful and not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, and really rather pleasant. (Yes, I've delivered before, but by c-section, so this birth was a totally new experience for me.) And yes, I was heavily medicated. I don't know if I would use words like "enjoy" and "pleasant" if I had not been. Anyway...we are all healthy and doing fine and very, very happy. The proud Big Sister is so gentle and sweet with Baby. It is clear that her world is a little shaky right now as she is pretty sensitive and emotional (much like her mama), but that just means that we have all the more reason to snuggle with her.

Lest you think we mindlessly dress our children in the tackiest clothes possible, I will explain the picture. In preparation for Baby, we read The Baby Sister by Tomie dePaola many times over. When Tommy learns that his mother is going to have a baby, he requests a baby sister with a red ribbon in her hair. When his parents bring the baby home, sure enough she is a girl and she has a red ribbon in her hair. When my oldest daughter heard that, she immediately requested that her baby sister have a green ribbon in her hair. Green is my girl's favorite color. The request stayed consistent, and so we decided to make an effort to accomodate it. Well...it's challenging to put a ribbon in the hair of a newborn. Baby has a fair amount of hair, but it is still newborn fine, and we didn't want to tie a bow around her head (strangulation hazard and all). So we finally decided that we would attach a green ribbon to her hat. It worked wonderfully. Her big sister was pleased.

We're home now. Life is really good. We're just taking things slowly, easing into the life of a family of four. Our girls are beautiful and fascinating, and while we are still working through some challenges that come with parenting two (surely we'll be working through those challenges for many years to come), we are finding that the girls bring us tremendous joy and delight. I am incandescently happy. (Movie reference? Anyone?)