A Day of Noise and Silence

It is eerily quiet in my house right now.  Both of my kids are asleep, and I too just got up from a little nap.  How did this happen??  This is not a complaint or a worry mind you… it is a question of, how can I repeat this daily??  

Eight short hours ago it was not so quiet.  My daughter was having a tantrum over who knows what, while my son chattered on incessantly about who knows what.  I had been trying to get my daughter to come to the table for breakfast and this set her off the first time.  That, and the fact that her brother took the iPad from her and turned it off.  He was doing exactly as I requested, but you know how it goes… it doesn’t matter what Mama may have wanted, it was NOT what Savvy wanted.  Then, she didn’t want to come to eat and claimed she DID NOT WANT CEREAL!  I just let her cry it out on the couch and didn’t worry too much whether or not she did eat since I know she always gets breakfast again at her daycare, and usually likes their food better anyway.  So, I sat down with Jingle and we ate.  She occasionally shouted from the couch to remind us that she DID NOT WANT CEREAL.  Finally she wandered over so she could quietly remind me up close that she did not want cereal.   I said calmly, “that’s fine.  Go pick out some socks then.”  And to my surprise she did and she brought them back so I could help her get them on.  So, I thought the tantrum was behind us, and I ate her cereal.  That set off the next one “I WANTED MY CEREAL!!” She yelled.  “Well, I’m sorry, you said you didn’t so I ate it.  And now we don’t have time for a second breakfast session.” At which point she collapsed onto the ground and began crying.  Then, my son starts giving a play by play of her tantrum… why she’s having one, what she’s doing wrong, why she should stop…   Her crying sounds alone, I could handle, but his chatter layered over the crying – because he also follows me around as he announces what’s happening, and expects responses from me – was a little more noise then I could handle.   At one point I tried to pick up my daughter to carry her closer to the door and her shoes as ultimately we really did need to leave.  But, sadly, I’ve realized, she has reached that age and size, where that is not so easy anymore, especially when she plays boneless.  So, I left her where she was, and brought the shoes to her.  I DON’T WANT THOSE! (Of course not, I should have known right?  I mean she wanted them the last 5 days, so the law of averages when it comes to children’s decisions means that she would not want them today.)   Fine.. (sigh)…I continued to get myself ready and sent my son out to unlock the car as I mustered up enough energy to pick her up and haul her to the car myself, with or without shoes.  I said to Jingle, “now we have to drop you off first so you’re not late.”.  Suddenly Savvy, from across the room, stops crying. “What?” she asks, “What did you say?”.  I said that we have to drop off Jingle first.  “Oh! Does that mean I can come in too?”  (Which it does since I can’t leave her in the car).  And suddenly she’s up, grabs the shoes she so vehemently despised two minutes prior and announces, “I’m not crying anymore” sweet as can be. 

That was my morning.  But my afternoon was different.   We are having a wintery summer day here in San Francisco, which means that where I live, it’s barely 60 degrees and it’s windy and foggy.  It makes me want to hole up inside and do nothing.   I picked the kids up in the afternoon and we went to Trader Joe’s.   They had both had lunch, but I had not yet eaten, so I knew I was potentially asking for trouble.  I am known to get horrible cases of the hangrys (hungry and angry).   I told myself to keep it together in the store, but I also made sure the kids knew I was very hungry which is code for “watch out for Mama”.  Bless Trader Joe’s and their mini kid carts.  I used to hate them, but now that the kids can actually navigate them without driving into my heels, or other people, it makes shopping fun for them.   We got our things and I picked up something for lunch at home.  When we got to the car, I announced “when we get home, the first thing I am going to do is eat lunch. You guys can watch one show [so you will leave me alone while I eat] and then Savvy can take a nap.”  We did this and Savvy went off to nap.  But, I was really sleepy too, thanks to the dreary weather and full belly, so I told Jingle that I was going to lay down for a half hour and he could watch one more show on his own.  Twenty minutes into my nap he came and lay down with me.   Ten minutes after that he said he was going to lie down in his own bed.  Okay!!   And, a short while later, I had the moment of realization that both my kids were asleep in their own room.   I napped a little longer then half hour, and then forced myself out of bed to take advantage of this quiet time.  Afterall, I needed to write a blog entry.