new roommates, fall time, and long baths...

There comes a time in a person’s life when they adopt (or get stuck) with a roommate.  For me, it was when I was 7 and my little brother, Jacob,  was 2.  My family had just moved from Ottawa to Hartland and with some renovations going on upstairs, we bunked together for a short period of time.  Next came university and I had a roommate for my first and second year.  And then a little break before marriage.  Dave is a pretty good roomie, and I am happy to share a room with him for the rest of my life.

Well, Jesse and Janna’s time has come, and we moved them into the same room last night! Only having 3 bedrooms in our house- we figured it was the most logical combination with baby 3 on the way.   And we want to get them totally settled with each other before throwing another big change into their life.  Several people have recommended keeping the new baby in our room, but I am such a light sleeper, that I hear every little squeak and gurgle and sleep just doesn’t happen for me!  I learned that with trying  Jesse in our room for a while.  And I am always reminded when we travel and have to bunk with our kids, what a nightmare it is for me.   I would rather sleep hard for a few hours and then wander into the next room to deal with baby in an awake state, than be semi-awake all night.   Just my preference.  Who knows though, maybe this baby will be a horrible HORRIBLE sleeper and I’ll end up dragging her into bed.   I try to keep my mind open and put expectations on hold for the first little while as much as my organized personality can.

S

o, we psyched Jesse up with the promise of a new room and new poster and wall stickers.  He was VERY excited as we moved furniture around last night and put up his spiderman poster!   I thought it might freak Janna out a bit as his eyes are sort of glaring across the room at her- but she keep laughing at it and pointing at it while she exclaims, “CAT!”  Most animals are “cat” to her.  After a slightly tweaked bedtime routine, we were exiting the room and Janna started to cry.  Jesse plugged his ears and said, “but I don’t like that”  I told him to cover his ears and fall asleep and Janna would follow suit.  We didn’t hear another peep from him until 6:45 this morning!  Janna however- wailed for a good 45 minutes at bed time- and woke up every few hours to holler for maybe 5 minutes or so.  I wondered if she thinks Jesse has the capability of taking her out of her crib?  But it’s pretty normal for her to wail here and there through the night.  We just ignore it and doesn’t often last more than 5 minutes.   So, all in all, a  successful night.  I think we are just lucky that Jesse is such a heavy sleeper and will not leave his bed once he is in it.  Even if he drops a book out of his bed and wants it- he would call for us and not step a foot out of his bed to get it.   We never taught him this- it’s just what he does. 

Well, the morning came, and it was pretty cute listening to the 2 of them chatting it up across their room.  Jesse started off by telling Janna a bible story.  Then he grilled her with a good 10 minutes of questions:

“Janna- do you want to be a butterly for Halloween?”

 A pause and then sweet little response, “yesssss.” 

“Ok, that sounds good Janna. You can be that.  Janna, do you want to play outside today?”

Another little pause, then a mellow “ yesssssss”

Ok.  That will be willy fun.  I will pull you in the wagon.  Do you want to go in the wagon?

“yessss....”

Ok Janna. You can do that.  You are allowed to.  Do you like mama? (he really asked her that!)

“MAMA! Yesss...”

So, I woke up feeling pretty good about night one of room sharing.  HOWEVER- it became apparent quite quickly that they were both more tired and on edge than normal.  By just 8:30 I was starting to fray a bit, and Dave sensed my snowballing frustration.  So, he jumped in and out of the shower and told me he was taking the kids out and to have some time to myself!  Awwww... What a guy.  It was cold and dark and the kids were obviously tired, so he loaded them into the wagon  for a ride with some bags to collect some leaves! Here they are ready to head out.

At nursery school, we are talking about Fall Time, and it’s really interesting how “into it” Jesse is.  At home he is constantly bringing it up, and when we are out he is always pointing out the leaves which lead into conversation about what different things take place in the fall.  I took the “leaf hunting time” to have a long unhurried and quiet bath.  It was quite luxurious.  Growing up, I never understood how my mom could

1.  Take such long bath and

2.   Switch from a grouch to a chipper- humming- lady as the water ran.

But, I SOOOOO get it now!  Gone are the days of 20 minute showers and 40 minute hair and make-up routines.  Through the week, I take a 5 minute shower- followed by about a 10 minute window in which to dress and do my hair and make up.   I do get up about an hour before the kids, but I take this time to have a relaxed cup of coffee, read my bible, say a prayer for the day, check my email, and make the kids breakfast without a baby on my hip and Jesse talking my ear off.  Dave gets them eating while I do my power shower and ready routine, and then he takes off for work.  Saturdays always feel like a treat, as I give myself a good 10 minutes to shower.  So, having a good hour to relax and get ready is heavenly!

The kids returned from their “a- bench- er” in slightly better spirits.  But more importantly, momma was in  WAY better mood.  Dave said that they were so tired on the walk- and Janna didn’t say 2 words, but had sort of a blank stare the whole time.   Jesse VERY very VERY slowly pulled the wagon and collected a few leaves along the journey.

Well, we hit up church, have had lunch since, and the kids (and Daddy) are now down for their nap.  I think I might go and join them.  Thanks for reading this mish-mash of a blog post. I’m out!