How Do They Know??
Well wouldn’t you know it –
after a day of nearly clawing the walls to get away from my girls,
I had a rather sweet and eminently manageable time with them.
You know the state of mind I was in as I approached Tuesday –
if you don’t, see yesterday’s sob story – er,
entry. And I was wary of Tuesday right off the bat since it was All
Mommy All Day – no Gamma, no play dates, nothing. Just me and
the Clingy Monsters.
And I wasn’t thrilled with the way
it started, since Cora once again began waking a few hours after
she’d gone to bed Monday night. But this time, rather than
her regular cries, she was doing that poor little baby seal bark
that kids get when they’ve had a cold for a while, and as she
lay in her crib crying she said, “Water, Mama, water,
please!” Of course, this would melt even a heart of stone,
and I vowed then to be patient with her and put aside all thoughts
of adoption until she was better. So even though I got up with her
several times during the night, I found myself more patient, more
forgiving of my poor kiddo.
I started the day off, of course, sleep-deprived, but the girls
were miraculously well-behaved and kind throughout. I explained to
Maddie that we couldn’t go play with friends because of
Cora’s cold, and she accepted the exile with a minimum of
fuss, even opting to stay home and play in our backyard rather than
walk to the park. For all Cora’s cold, she was patient and
not too clingy (thank you, Infant Motrin), smiling and playing
games with us. We danced, we sang, we made art projects and drew
hopscotch on our front sidewalk. We made a picnic and ate it in our
back yard. And as people floated in and out of the day –
Gamma dropping in briefly for naptime, Gamma and Daddy joining for
dinner before heading off to run errands – the girls seemed
to know somehow that this was their private day with Mommy, and
they soaked it up.
I’m not saying they didn’t each have their meltdowns,
but on the whole both girls were pretty sweet, sharing toys and
taking turns and making each other laugh. Cora only occasionally
turned into the Clingy Monster, which is only to be expected when
she’s as sick as she is.
Was this intentional? Did the girls somehow read my blog yesterday
and realized they had to shape up, and fast? Did a friend of the
family call them and tell them to wise up? I sure hope so, but I
think it’s just a kid’s innate ability to walk that
fine line of pushing Mommy riiiiiiiight up to the line, but not
over it. Whatever the reason, I’m not one to look a gift
horse in the mouth, and I’m simply grateful I got a breather.
I wouldn’t call it a break, since I’m still seriously
sleep-deprived and I’m still running full steam with them,
but they’ve lightened up their drag on me and I find the
sailing a bit smoother.
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