Thursday, January 21, 2010

Personal Space... Or Lack Thereof

I'm a fairly cuddly person. I love giving hugs, and snuggling with my family. But sometimes, I need my personal space. Today is one of those days. And today, like every other day, all three of us are jammed into one small couch cushion while I type this. We have a good-sized home. Big enough for a family of four, that's for sure. But without fail, at some point in the day, all four of us end up squished together. Sometimes the dog will even join in. Not that I mind being close to my three favorite people. But it makes it difficult to do my work, or type my blog posts.

This morning, my muscles were sore from an especially enthusiastic workout routine yesterday. I decided to bust out my old yoga DVD. I say old because it's a prenatal video, which usually prompts questions from Bean about my chubby tummy. But if you ignore all the sappy references to the "miraculous growing being inside you," it's a fantastic workout.

About halfway through the video, I remembered WHY I haven't done this video in a while. Bean likes to try to join me in doing yoga. Of course she wants to share the mat with me, so I'm bending and twisting at even stranger angles to avoid clocking her in the head. Today, while trying to do floor work, Squish decided she wanted to sit on my lap. It was easy enough to adapt when I was doing leg stretches, etc. But not so easy when I'm trying to do plank and table poses. The final straw was when I was trying to relax in Child's Pose, and she lifted my head up because she thought I was sad. "Mama SMILE!"

I gave up. I guess this is how my children ensure they will have a nice comfy lap to sit in for years to come.

Monday, January 11, 2010

"Vacationing" with children

Last weekend, we went to Galena, IL with some good friends of ours. We had our two kids, and their 4 kids... all ages 5 and under. After reaching a point of extreme frustration with our husbands, my friend and I realized the problem. Vacationing with kids is no vacation for us moms. It's our lives... just in a different location. We still had to wake up, take care of the kids, cook, clean, do laundry... how was this relaxing?

So next time I think we're going to bring a babysitter. If we plan on relaxing, anyways. :)

We did get two good hours to relax and not be "Mama". We went to the delightful Galena Beads, and got to each make bracelets. We had wine and chocolate, and had a wonderful time. I think I may have a new hobby!




















Gee thanks...

Last night, in the car, Squish treated me to her favorite new game. Seeing how many times she can say "Mama" before I lose my mind. I respond quickly at first, and then after I realize she just likes the way it sounds, I give up and let her babble. Well, last night she apparently decided she had something to say after an hour of babbling.
Squish: "Mama. Mama! MAMA!!!!"
Me: "WHAT??"
Squish: "I wuv Daddy."
Me: :sigh: