Kid3 idolizes his big sister. He absolutely adores both Kid1 and Kid2, but Kid1 is the sibling he most wants to be like. So it wasn't that big a surprise when he started asking to watch The Little Mermaid when we offered to turn on a movie - it's one of her favorites, and she's one of his favorites.
The other day, Kid3 came up to me holding Sleeping Beauty, and asked to watch it. I turned it on and chuckled to myself at my rough-and-tumble boy who loves princess movies.
About 10 minutes into the movie, he turned to me and said as indignantly as a two year old can "NO, Mama. Dis movie not good. Where da dwagon and lava go?"
Upon second glance at the movie cover, he was interested in the dragons and fire, not the princess.
Boys will be boys, I guess.
We turned on The Little Mermaid instead.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Who knew?
I've been working nights almost the entire time I've been a nurse. I always said I'd work nights forever but this little thing called insomnia turned out to be a pretty big deal, and I've been working days for 3 weeks now and I feel like I have a new job.
I said repeatedly that I felt like switching to day shift would make me like my job less, and my time off more. I was right about the time off, but what's been a pleasant surprise is that I was dead wrong about the job. I am so much happier! I feel much more helpful and effective as a nurse when my patients aren't absolutely exhausted and would rather sleep than hear any advice I've got to give on getting through labor.
My kids are happier too. The older kids have both commented that I seem to be happier, and I feel like it's true. I love that my days off are actually days off - I'm not spending every second of my time at home trying to catch up on sleep. I got up this morning and went to the store to buy a couple of items we needed, and although I'm not a big fan of Walmart, that's what was open at 6:30 this morning and you know, at that hour Walmart isn't bad. The shelves were stocked, the lines were short, the parking lot was nearly empty. I was home by 8AM and have made cookies, washed laundry, given myself a manicure, and spent plenty of time playing with the kids, snuggling Kid4, and trying (unsuccessfully) to convince her that Tummy Time is not the Worst Thing Ever.
Added bonus - In the 4 years since I graduated nursing school, I've gained a lot of weight. Which is partly to do with the two pregnancies since then, but it turns out that maybe some of it was working nights, too. In the 3 weeks since I started sleeping every night and not eating "lunch" at 2am, I've lost 8 pounds - enough to encourage me to try to lose a little more. I didn't do anything to lose those 8 pounds, except not work nights! Score!
I said repeatedly that I felt like switching to day shift would make me like my job less, and my time off more. I was right about the time off, but what's been a pleasant surprise is that I was dead wrong about the job. I am so much happier! I feel much more helpful and effective as a nurse when my patients aren't absolutely exhausted and would rather sleep than hear any advice I've got to give on getting through labor.
My kids are happier too. The older kids have both commented that I seem to be happier, and I feel like it's true. I love that my days off are actually days off - I'm not spending every second of my time at home trying to catch up on sleep. I got up this morning and went to the store to buy a couple of items we needed, and although I'm not a big fan of Walmart, that's what was open at 6:30 this morning and you know, at that hour Walmart isn't bad. The shelves were stocked, the lines were short, the parking lot was nearly empty. I was home by 8AM and have made cookies, washed laundry, given myself a manicure, and spent plenty of time playing with the kids, snuggling Kid4, and trying (unsuccessfully) to convince her that Tummy Time is not the Worst Thing Ever.
Added bonus - In the 4 years since I graduated nursing school, I've gained a lot of weight. Which is partly to do with the two pregnancies since then, but it turns out that maybe some of it was working nights, too. In the 3 weeks since I started sleeping every night and not eating "lunch" at 2am, I've lost 8 pounds - enough to encourage me to try to lose a little more. I didn't do anything to lose those 8 pounds, except not work nights! Score!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Vacation, sort of.
One nice thing about living only a few hours from family is that it's close enough to visit on a regular basis, but far enough that going to visit passes as a vacation for my kids.
This weekend Kid1 and Kid2 are visiting at Grandma's house a few hours away. I dropped them off this morning, and this afternoon I've been hanging out with Kid3 and Kid4. My big kids are convinced they are on vacation this weekend. I'm becoming convinced that I'm on vacation with the Littles this weekend, too! Managing just the two of them has been almost ridiculously easy compared to managing all 4 (which is getting easier but is still pretty challenging!) and I'm honestly feeling just a tiny bit annoyed about it.
When I just had Kid1 and Kid2, it was SO HARD. It was so, so hard! It was hard to entertain the toddler while breastfeeding the baby. It was hard to figure out how to give the toddler a bath when the baby was awake. It was hard to manage a trip to the park. It was hard. And Kid1 was a much easier toddler than Kid3 but I've done all those things today without really even thinking about it, until I sat down and thought to myself "what the heck did I do with all my time when I only had two? This is so easy!" But it wasn't easy, when they were all I had. It was so hard that nursing school felt a little bit like a vacation at times (and if you know a nurse, just ask them how similar nursing school is to a vacation. But don't do it while they're eating because they might choke when they start laughing hysterically at you.)
It's a little unfair that you don't realize how easy it is to have one kid, or two, or three, until you add another one. I'm certain that if Hell were to freeze over and we had another baby, four would suddenly seem so easy - but it's hard enough that just the IDEA of adding one more makes me feel just a little bit nauseated. I wish I'd known how easy it was to only have 2. And I'm realizing that I should try to keep in mind how easy it is to have 4, with a supportive husband, a comfortable home, and a level of confidence in myself as a mom that I definitely didn't have when Kid2 was wee.
But I'm still thankful for my "vacation weekend".
This weekend Kid1 and Kid2 are visiting at Grandma's house a few hours away. I dropped them off this morning, and this afternoon I've been hanging out with Kid3 and Kid4. My big kids are convinced they are on vacation this weekend. I'm becoming convinced that I'm on vacation with the Littles this weekend, too! Managing just the two of them has been almost ridiculously easy compared to managing all 4 (which is getting easier but is still pretty challenging!) and I'm honestly feeling just a tiny bit annoyed about it.
When I just had Kid1 and Kid2, it was SO HARD. It was so, so hard! It was hard to entertain the toddler while breastfeeding the baby. It was hard to figure out how to give the toddler a bath when the baby was awake. It was hard to manage a trip to the park. It was hard. And Kid1 was a much easier toddler than Kid3 but I've done all those things today without really even thinking about it, until I sat down and thought to myself "what the heck did I do with all my time when I only had two? This is so easy!" But it wasn't easy, when they were all I had. It was so hard that nursing school felt a little bit like a vacation at times (and if you know a nurse, just ask them how similar nursing school is to a vacation. But don't do it while they're eating because they might choke when they start laughing hysterically at you.)
It's a little unfair that you don't realize how easy it is to have one kid, or two, or three, until you add another one. I'm certain that if Hell were to freeze over and we had another baby, four would suddenly seem so easy - but it's hard enough that just the IDEA of adding one more makes me feel just a little bit nauseated. I wish I'd known how easy it was to only have 2. And I'm realizing that I should try to keep in mind how easy it is to have 4, with a supportive husband, a comfortable home, and a level of confidence in myself as a mom that I definitely didn't have when Kid2 was wee.
But I'm still thankful for my "vacation weekend".
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Doing it all
This is my second week back to work, and we're still definitely getting into the swing of things. The laundry has piled up a little and we're not seeing our friends as often as I would like, but things are okay.
My first week back, I worked nights. I've been working nights for more than 3 years and for a really long time, swore I'd never work day shift. A while back, though, I realized I wasn't sleeping well at all and decided to request to transfer to days after all. I expected to transfer as soon as I came back from maternity leave but because of a staffing shortage I needed to work one last week of night shift when I came back.
I can't believe how tired I was. How crabby and exhausted. I felt physically ill when I came home from my first night shift, and even worse after sleeping about 6 hours during the day. I felt groggy and achy and nauseated and just truly sick. I must have felt the same way after all my night shifts before I went on maternity leave, too, but it wasn't such an abrupt change then and so I just didn't realize how truly awful I felt.
It was a huge relief to move to day shift this week. It's harder in some ways - the unit is much busier during the day, no question! It's harder to be away from Kid4 knowing that she's not just sleeping, she's awake and playing and being adorable. It's harder to be away from Kid3, too, and he's having a rough time with the adjustment. Kid2 and Kid1, honestly, are just plain happy. They know that when I was so exhausted I didn't have as much patience with them, and saw the difference once I was getting enough sleep, so they're just happy that I'm working a normal schedule now and have more energy and more patience - which means more fun for them! - on my days off.
It's definitely a change, and it will take some getting used to, but I think it's a good change.
My first week back, I worked nights. I've been working nights for more than 3 years and for a really long time, swore I'd never work day shift. A while back, though, I realized I wasn't sleeping well at all and decided to request to transfer to days after all. I expected to transfer as soon as I came back from maternity leave but because of a staffing shortage I needed to work one last week of night shift when I came back.
I can't believe how tired I was. How crabby and exhausted. I felt physically ill when I came home from my first night shift, and even worse after sleeping about 6 hours during the day. I felt groggy and achy and nauseated and just truly sick. I must have felt the same way after all my night shifts before I went on maternity leave, too, but it wasn't such an abrupt change then and so I just didn't realize how truly awful I felt.
It was a huge relief to move to day shift this week. It's harder in some ways - the unit is much busier during the day, no question! It's harder to be away from Kid4 knowing that she's not just sleeping, she's awake and playing and being adorable. It's harder to be away from Kid3, too, and he's having a rough time with the adjustment. Kid2 and Kid1, honestly, are just plain happy. They know that when I was so exhausted I didn't have as much patience with them, and saw the difference once I was getting enough sleep, so they're just happy that I'm working a normal schedule now and have more energy and more patience - which means more fun for them! - on my days off.
It's definitely a change, and it will take some getting used to, but I think it's a good change.
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