Weeks go by and lots of things happen while other weeks go by and nothing too extraordinary happens, but there are lots of small amazing moments. This week has been a mash up between these two extremes.
Mommy started school yesterday, the last semester of my Junior year. So up to this point life has been all about the mad dash to get the family, house, and Little Man prepared. The theory up to this point has been that if it (meaning whatever project or “To Do”) wasn’t completed before Monday, it probably wasn’t going to be accomplished. As a result Mommy has been cooking, cleaning, and running around like a mad woman. Since Mommy has classes four days a week this semester with two evening classes from 6 o’clock to 9 o’clock in addition to one afternoon class and an online class Mommy knew full well that time would be a very precious commodity. With time being in short supply and only so much Mommy to go around, I wanted to make sure that whatever time I had that wasn’t spent studying or doing homework was time spent with Little Man and Daddy.
Time spent with Jack and Daddy are very important to Mommy, but making sure her family has a healthy, home-cooked meal is also an important priority for me. In an effort to ensure the preservation of time spent with the family and that the nutritional needs of our little family was met I have been cooking, baking, and whipping up a storm so that we would have a little over 45 days worth of meals frozen and ready at a moment’s notice to feed the family. This project has affectionately (and appropriately) been termed the Squirrel Hole Project. Having a wide assortment of meals, side dishes, and baked goods ready in the freezer ensures that all of Mommy’s free time can be spent with Jack and not in the kitchen.
Food and meal prep wasn’t the only item on the agenda this past week. Considering Jack has been resembling an Irish Beatle impersonator as of late he has been in desperate need of a haircut. With Mommy’s running theory that if it wasn’t completed before school started it wasn’t going to get done, we knew Jack would need a haircut and quick or we would have a long haired hippie by the time Winter Break rolled around. So, on Friday Daddy got off work early to accompany us to Jack’s hairstylist, Kim. The woman can work wonders and she manages to work at a faster pace than the eventually even haircut would suggest. However, for whatever reason, Jack was in a mood and nothing could make him happy. Throughout the entire haircut he was screaming and yelling. If it hadn’t been for his recent frustration with his long locks and their interference with his sleep I would have called the whole thing off and left him with a mullet. After all, Jack’s happiness is more important to me than if he looks like a redneck (although I must admit only slightly). Fortunately Kim was able to cut all of Jack’s hair and we gave her a nice tip in an attempt to compensate for the hostile work environment.
Later that night Mommy had plans to meet up with my best friend, Janae, to see the movie Eclipse. I waited until after Jack went to bed before departing and leaving Daddy with baby duty. While we were waiting for the movie to start Mommy received a call from home. Daddy just had to call to inform me about Jack’s latest talent. Apparently Jack had decided he didn’t want to go to sleep at his bed time, so when Daddy checked on him via his video monitor he observed Jack standing in his crib, but he looked a little weird. When Daddy went in Jack’s room to check out the situation he discovered that Jack had removed his sleep sack as well every stitch of clothing he had on. Jack was standing in his crib, laughing and jumping, in nothing, but his diaper. Mommy found this story very amusing indeed.
Friday night may have been Mommy’s “date night” with her best girl friend, but Mommy and Daddy had planned a lovely date night with each other for Saturday night. Mommy spent all of Saturday finishing up the final dishes for the squirrel hole while Daddy did his fair share of cleaning and Little Man wrangling. Our dear friend Eileen was slated to come over after Jack went to sleep and then we were going to be off for a nice romantic evening of a sushi dinner and then a movie. Unfortunately, the one night that we plan such a date, there is a huge wind storm. This wind storm knocked out the power to a fair amount of people on our side of town. Jack woke up and was obviously scared because not only was there someone other than Mommy or Daddy attempting to quell his tears, but he was plunged into the dark. Fortunately we were able to get our dinner to go and we were only a few minutes from home.
Eileen was such a trooper as when we arrived Jack was sitting on the couch with her, in tears, for understandable reasons. Daddy was immediately on candle patrol while Mommy attempted to soothe the screaming babe. After a few minutes with a flashlight and Mommy making Disco sounds, i.e. “woo woo” everything was right with the world. Eventually the power came back on and Jack went back to sleep without so much as a fuss. Mommy and Daddy were then able to finish our romantic dinner and practically pass out from exhaustion. It may not have been the date night we envision, but it worked for our energy levels.
Sunday was way more laid back. It helped that Jack slept to a recently unprecedented 9 o’clock in the morning. We all needed the extra sleep so it was a pleasant surprise. We lounged around the house until Oma arrived to pick up a few frozen meals Mommy had made for her and Papa. After a short visit she left and once again we were left to lounging. The weather was so delightful (in the low 70′s) that we were excited to have a little BBQ. After a yummy meal and some play time, it was bed time for Little Man. The weekend had been so hectic we failed to follow through with our traditional family movie, but ah well. Life happens.
Story time before bedtime is better in some ways than a family movie. Over the past few weeks Mommy has been reading aloud to Jack A Wrinkle in Time. One of Mommy’s favorite memories was when Oma would read A Wrinkle in Time to me when I was a little girl (complete with all the voices) and that has been something I’ve been looking forward to continuing with Jack. Of course he doesn’t quite understand what’s going on and he may not remember being read this particular story, at least this time around, but he certainly enjoys all of Mommy’s colorful depictions of all the characters and their various dialects.
This week has been incredibly hectic and terribly trying and Little Man has been a super duper trooper considering all that’s been going on and Mommy is so proud of her little guy, but Mommy also knows that all of the work and effort that replaced the traditional summer lounging will be more than worth it when I’m able to steal away lovely moments with my family rather than with a cutting board and veggies. In the end, it’s all for the people I love and adore more than life itself so no amount of extra work, blood, sweat, or tears is regrettable. The love is in the details.
Quick Jack Facts
- Saturday morning while Mommy and Daddy had been buzzing about the house Jack was in his playroom with his little animals playing. Mommy often likes to stand by the door and watch Jack Jack as he plays without him knowing I’m observing him with loving adoration and awe. On this particular morning what caught my attention was the sound of various coos coming from his playroom. When I looked in, he had an animal in each hand and playing as though each animal were talking to the other. It was so sweet. He even had the little animals kiss. What a loving and wonderful little boy we have.
