My first week flying solo with four

Resentful is not the word I would use to describe my feelings as my husband left for work on Monday, but how I felt might be related to the word resentful.

I mean, I know he needs to go back to work every now and then through his paternity leave, but I don't think I was ready for him to go back just yet...

Monday had some successes and plenty of fails...

FAIL:  Everett barely slept at all...  WHAT????  He would fall asleep, I would lay him down and five minutes later he would be crying.  First day of his life so far where he was fussy and I couldn't really put him down.  Trust me when I say I wasn't liking the future I envisioned for myself dealing with that on a daily basis...

SUCCESS:  My kids were playing so nicely downstairs while I took care of Everett upstairs...

FAIL:  Then I go downstairs and Mallary had climbed up on the washing machine to retrieve her markers from where they are stored...  Jonah got some markers and had decorated himself and the kitchen with his artwork; wall, floor, doors, chairs, table...

FAIL:  I tried putting Jonah down for a nap and with Everett it just couldn't and didn't happen.

FAIL:  I needed to call the Doctor for an infection Trevan has that wasn't clearing up, and could not seem to find 5 minutes to do it... 

SUCCESS:  I finally called at 3pm...

PARTIAL SUCCESS:  Jonah fell asleep on the couch, but at 5pm.

Notice his colored toenails with markers

 

FAIL:  I realized at 6:45 I hadn't fed the kids dinner yet.  Double fail:  someone had even brought me dinner to feed my family that night I just couldn't seem to get it on the table...

 

SUCCESS: My kids were fed dinner.



 

FAIL:  The result of Jonah not taking a nap, and then falling asleep at 5pm only to be woken up by his siblings...



FAIL: I may or may not have given him a brownie to make him stop crying...

SUCCESS:  I pulled out the big guns (baby bjiorn) because I needed hands and Everett was occupying them... It worked like a charm.  He eventually fell asleep in it, and I was able to be somewhat productive.  I have never had to use the bjiorn for a little baby like that...





FAIL:  I got nothing done.

SUCCESS:  I didn't raise my voice at my kids or lose my temper. 

SUCCESS:  Since my kids didn't ever put on real clothes that day they were already dressed in their jammies for bed!

So... Tuesday was so much better thank goodness.  My baby slept and ate when he was supposed to.  Mallary snuggled with Jonah on the couch, and he took a nap there!  I'm not sure what I accomplished that day, but I'm sure I did something...

Wednesday morning I sat on my bed and had a little talk with myself in my head....

"You can do this..."  "You excel at organized chaos."  "You can do this."  "I excel at organized chaos, I can do this!"

And, boy did I ever do it!!! 

 I washed and put away 11 loads of laundry, made cookies (from a mix), put dinner in the crock pot (from a freezer meal my sister made), and even read Southern Living magazine that I got in the mail that day.  Jonah took a nap.  Everett was perfect.  Mallary was helpful.  I was able to give out positive reinforcement.  Other than the fact my kids had to go to bed early because they didn't clean up their messes, it was a great day!  It's good for a mother's morale to feel like superwoman every now and then - even a superwoman with a very sore body...  

Thursday was good (ish) - Everett is so good.  Mallary could have been a way better listener.  This week Jonah learned how to open the dishwasher and was finally strong enough to open the fridge.  I now have to tie the fridge shut...  I remember those days with Mallary...  Basically today was Enforcer day.  I had to follow through with my threats and lay down the law.  Days like this when my kids test me make me tired. 

Friday - SNOW DAY!!  I think my friend must have been inspired that my patience was waning, and picked my kids up for a playdate in the afternoon.  I was able to undecorate the Christmas tree and get all the ornaments put away.  I had been trying to do that for about a week now...  Finally success!!

Every night I have had big plans to get a lot done when John has gotten home, but I have literally collapsed on the couch and fallen asleep there. 

I'm still wishing John could take off all next week... but no, he has training he has to do.  I just have to remind myself it takes a little while to get in the groove of things after having a new baby. I guess I'll just need to give myself that pep talk every morning, "you excel at organized chaos, you excel at organized chaos, you excel at organized chaos..."