Staying Sane

It has to be said: I don’t like infants. I love my baby, he is precious and a wonderful gift from God. But I haven’t slept for more than 3 hours since March 20th. It’s seriously wearing me down. Every single part of my body is tired. Worse, I am emotionally tired. Try dealing with a toddler when you are emotionally tired. It’s not pretty. Thatcher is no where near as difficult as Thad was, but he is definitely not one of those mythical happy babies. I am the only one who can hold him. I am the only one who can soothe him, and the only one who can put him to sleep. Which basically means that I feel like every single moment of my life is centered around him. Well duh, he is a baby, what do I expect, him to change his own diapers? No, I’m not saying that any of this is abnormal, I am just saying that it is incredibly hard. And exhausting. I feel like I am teetering on the edge of full breakdown, and I have been to this point many times in the last 2+ months. And then we have a good day, or a good night, and I feel like I recuperate a bit. And then it gets gnarly again. It is very easy to forget that this will eventually get easier. I wasn’t that long ago that I did this with Thad, and I felt like I was living a never ending day of screaming baby. But gradually it got better, and easier, and involved more sleeping. This will too.

In this moment of trying to convince myself that things will get easier, and my life will return to it’s more typical state, something soothing came to mind. My MindMap. It’s nothing really, just a little exercise that I came across, I think on a blog somewhere. When I feel like my life is out of control and no longer my own, I like to check in, re-center myself and remind myself of who I am. The kind of person I want to be, the wife, the mom, etc. It is a way to visualize those compartments of yourself. Here is what mine looks like:

If I made one based on today’s life, it would look a little different. I am not currently spreading myself evenly in these areas. BUT, someday, I will again. (Laundry, I’m looking at you…hang in there…we’ll catch up some day). Looking at this makes me reassess some choices though. It’s true that I don’t have time to spend on “Everyone Else”, for example, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take any time to “Be nice” to my husband. Definitely some things that I can work on. And, ultimately, it’s not just for his sake, but for my own.

So, Self, I am talking to you: check yo’self before you wreck yo’self. Or something like that.

Monogram Mug

On one of my Pinteresting expeditions, I came upon this fun project:

DIY Monogram Mugs. I am a fan of cheap, easy, fun crafts, especially when they make good gifts. Extra bonus, I made this project even cheaper and easier than in the tutorial. Her supply list includes scissors, pen, tape, graphite transfer paper, Black Pebeo Porcelaine Pen in Fine Point ($4 at Michaels, also available here) and a print out with the family’s initials. My supply list includes:

1. Black oil-based Sharpie
2. Dry erase pen

Bam. That’s a short list. The project started off with a bang when in an attempt to improve Thatcher’s scream attack, I walked across the parking lot from Five Guys where we had dinner, over to Michaels. I intended to get the pen she used, but after 15 minutes of wandering around the store looking for either the pen or an employee, I was told by the sole person working there that they were out of such pens. Fortunately, this particular 15 year old Michaels employee happened to be well versed in the art of mug drawing and told me that a oil based Sharpie should do the same thing (meaning it can write on porcelain and won’t wash off). Done. I picked out my pen (I used black, medium tip size) and headed up to the register where I then stood in line for another 15 minutes (while trying to jiggle my fussy child into submission…I’m only halfway joking). At one point I honestly considered shoplifting the pen.

Finally they allowed me to pay for the pen ($3.99), and I woke my by-that-time-sleeping-baby back up by putting him in his carseat. He then proceeded to scream the rest of the way home. But that’s a different story.

I was planning on just free handing a letter onto a mug that I had purchased at Goodwill for $0.49. There’s no way I’m paying money for transfer paper and going through the hassle of printing and cutting out letters. Silly. Another bonus of using the Sharpie instead of the suggested pen is that once you write it, it’s permanent. No baking of the glassware is necessary. Before I started working, I realized that even better than free handing, I could just draw out my letter with a fine-tip try erase pen that was in the kitchen drawer before drawing the final letter with the Sharpie. Worked perfectly.

Obviously, there are a million different font styles you could copy, and a billion different things you could put on there. Pictures. Song lyrics. Names. Etc. This first mug I made to give to my sister, with her initial as well as a Bible verse that I know is meaningful to her. I have a second mug to do, but I’m not sure what to put on it yet. I really like how they did a collection of different sizes and shaped mugs to make a whole set. For $0.49 per mug, and the pen already purchased, there’s not a whole lot to loose. I think they will make cute little “Thank You” gifts, or whatnot. Score another point for Pinterest.

Reading with Kids

When we were kids, my mom used to read to us every night. Over the years, she read us TONS of books. Lots of classics like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, etc. Growing up, I was a huge reader, and I still love to read, I just have less time to do it. Thad and I read all the time. He has his favorites, but I can’t wait to read him some of my favorites, especially as he gets older and we can read big books. I have already started to stock pile some of the classics:

(Note also the sweet bookends that Justin made me out of some fire wood he was cutting up).

Here are some that cannot be missed:

1. Chronicles of Narnia

2. Where’s Waldo

Not exactly a chapter book, but definitely one of the favorites in my family while growing up; Who doesn’t love Waldo. I saw these at Costco for like 5 bucks apiece a few years ago. Couldn’t pass that one up!

And what childhood will now be complete without reading these new classics:

3. Harry Potter

If I have said it once, I’ve said a millions times: my husband is a genius. But the boy does not read. I should re-state that: he does not pleasure read. He does not read fiction. He reads boring stuff. While I have voluntarily read hundreds and hundreds of books, he has probably read a dozen. That may be an exaggeration, but not by a whole lot. One of the few books he has read (and so have I), is this series:

4. The Lord of the Rings

If I had girls, I would add these to the list:

5. Girly books: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, plus 2 of my all time adult favorites, The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End