There are certain times of the day that I absolutely adore: nap time and bedtime. Not only the thought of having a tiny bit of peace and quiet, but the thought of seeing the babies afterward smiling at me from their cribs.
When bedtimes roll around the babies are beyond tired and I am on the brink of a complete mental breakdown. Schedules are something that were drilled into my head when the babies were still in the hospital. Nurses and Neonatologists would remind me how I had my hands full (duh) and to stick to a schedule. It wasn’t as if I free formed it with the elder two, but I would follow their instincts more than a clock. Now, the clock is my friend.
As 10:30am rolls around I am making warm bottles and begging the three little princesses to stay in their Boppy chairs (totally outgrown, but still used for feeding times). They don’t usually listen and I can be found sitting in the rocking chair with two of them on my lap while holding the third back from somersaulting out of her chair with my foot. Luckily, they find my feet very fascinating since I can’t seem to choose a color for nail polish.
Morning naps are very short and spent downstairs. Typically they last 45 minutes or so. Just enough time for me to nod off while rocking two of them while watching The Young and the Restless. What? I have a couple of guilty pleasures….
Afternoon naps are what the day is for. I have found myself counting the minutes and seconds until 2pm. Understand that it’s not because I don’t love or appreciate my children, but holy shit, they can wear me out! Afternoon nap times leaves the 3 year old (almost 4 year old – must include that at her insistence) and me with the tv off and reading books. Most of the time this takes place in my bed … and most of the time I drift off to sleep while she watches Word World. I use the tv to babysit my preschooler. It’s not as bad if it’s educational, right? Right?!
By the time 7:30pm shows up on the digital clocks scattered throughout the house James and I form a team to tackle bedtime routines. I swear they think the rest of us are down here having an ice cream party and so they whimper for a little bit before drifting off to sleep. The next half and hour is spent with the two older kids, prepping them for their own bedtime. I swear, it’s harder putting an almost 4 year old and a 10 year old to bed than it is to put 11 month old triplets to bed.
While I love the quiet that sleep times bring the house that never has a moment of peace what I really love is peeking into their bedroom first thing in the morning. When I walk in I see Lauren playing a game of peek-a-boo with herself, laughing hard. Megan and Katie are across the room with their cribs back to back. Megan, the oh so clever one, has sorted out how to sit herself up and so I find her sitting in her crib trying to grab at Katie. Katie is excellent at playing keep away from Megan and laughs at her attempts to pull her through their crib slats.
Once they all see me their faces light up as bright as the morning sun. I can’t help but smile back and squeal a GOOD MORNING back to them. I scoop up two of them promising the second I’ll be back quickly for them. My heart breaks a little bit as I hear the third left upstairs cry out for me. I try to reassure her as I rush down the stairs that I will be right back, but I don’t know if she completely believes me. When I get back up to their room I am met with the same beaming smile that greeted me only minutes before.
Those smiles, they make all of the hard bits melt away. I can be at my wits end and not know which way is up, but when one of them shoots me one of their smiles I forget it all, even if it’s just for a moment.
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