The Age Gap

3 years ago, I was great, and I do mean great, with child #4. She was the surprise baby of all surprise babies! I cried when I found out I was pregnant. I was in shock and disbelief. I mean, how did this happen? Her then 3 year old sister had done me in and I was convinced I couldn't handle adding another child to the 3 with which we had already been blessed. Nonetheless, God had other plans.

Today, when this sweet blonde haired child bats her eyelids at me or lays her head in my lap, expecting me to pet her while she's panting like a dog, I can't imagine our lives without her. When she brings me her bowl and asks for more cocoa puffs, I fill it with a smile on my face. When she sings, I don't like it, no, I love it or Old MacDonald or There is Power in the Name of Jesus, I melt.  When she loses her paci at 3am and is screaming in her crib, my thoughts are a little bit different!

The challenge of having a child who is 4 years younger than the rest of the crowd becomes really evident when it's summer time or fall break. Remember that last post about loving fall? Yeah, I love all things fall, except fall break! Wow! Whose brilliant idea was this?

It would be so easy to take the older 3 to a movie or to go bowling or even to, I don't know, go anywhere, but having a 2 year old in tow really adds some challenges. There is the nap challenge - those sacred 2 hours every afternoon when I need to be at home so she can spend a good long while in the darkness of her room resting. The peace. The tranquility of nap time! All mothers of littles understand what I'm talking about. I'm not ready to give it up!

Then there's just the whole unpredictability of her mood, which overrules all other challenges! Terrible twos. Trying twos. Terrific twos. I don't care how you word it, 2 year olds throw tantrums! 2 year olds exert their will at the most inconvenient times. Grocery stores. Libraries. Heck, just getting in and out of the car! Trust me, I have carried my fair share of kicking and screaming toddlers out of public places while being glared at by passersby. Once I carried a 3 year old, a 1 year old out and a baby in my womb out of Target and left a full buggy of stuff in the middle of an aisle because they thought their opinions of how they were transported around the store outranked mine. Same fight, different child!

So this week has been boring and full of power struggles - and we're only on the 2nd day - because it's just not easy to get myself psyched up about taking a 2 year old out on the town. Appeasing snacks only last so long. Phone batteries only last so long, too, and only hold sweet baby girl's attention for a limited amount of time.

To add to the fall break drama, there's a lot more asking the older crowd to straighten up their rooms or the living room. This apparently is the equivalent to asking them to build the Ark! There's no flooding here! What stuff are you talking about? Surely she's not going to expect me to lift a finger? They haven't quite grasped the whole clean up after yourself thing and instead of just doing it to avoid a verbal lashing or loss of some privilege, inevitably, there is little kid smack talk. I even walked into the kitchen this morning and told them to stop bad mouthing their mother. It's out of control, and I think we may need an intervention.

Yesterday I never even changed out of my pajamas. Today, I woke up ready to face the world. I had plans. I have a list of places we were going to go. The cherubs were going to get treated with one of their favorite meals - Papa Murphy's with S'mores Dessert Pizza! That whole plan went south with the mention of 2 little words - Clean Up!

So here we sit. No one has asked for dinner. A half jar of Nutella has been consumed by the writer of this blog. Kindles are in full use and Mickey Mouse is about to do the Hot Dog Dance for the 12th time today. When the father gets home, I'm going to give him a high five and head to Publix and wander aimlessly! I wonder if the lady at the bakery will give me a free cookie when I tell her about my 4 kids who didn't get their free cookies on our trip to the grocery store that didn't happen today.

I hope their teachers are having a great relaxing week, because come Monday morning, they may be standing under the awning so they can be first in line to get back to their classrooms. Bless their hearts!

Anybody else have the Fall Break blues? This too shall pass, right?!