Message with a bottle…

I relished every moment with my children… believing whole hearted that no one could do it as well as I.  We had a Nanny (Jennifer) who meant the world to us, but we’d also been pretty jaded by another who was horrible.  My kids needed me… I needed my kids… and eventually I became a stay-at-home mom (ironically, just in time for everyone to be in school so I could have my days to myself!)

While I worked until my youngest was six, I greatly enjoyed my maternity leaves with the wee darlings… cuddling and squishing them.  Admittedly however, the repetition of feeding, changing and burping proved to be incredibly boring.  Don’t get me wrong, if I close my eyes and reflect… I can feel a tiny head in the bend of my elbow, a face nuzzled into my neck, a back arching against my chest, a soft hand holding mine.  I can feel them inside me as if it were yesterday.  I loved each and every moment and was horrified when it was time to return to work… but honestly, as thrilled as I was to be with them,  there were times I was bored out of my wits and was left looking for ways to amuse myself!

I kept a calendar with my children’s daily activities making note of their reactions or the funny things they said… well… at least what I “imagined” they’d say as oddly enough it took each of them a few years before they could talk and a few more before anyone understood them.  Besides, what I imagined they said was far funnier than what actually came out of their heart shaped mouths.   

(For the record, I talk for my dog too and I have to admit… she’s downright hilarious!!)

It’s not easy being home with a baby… keeping up with laundry and cleaning and feeding and napping and bathing and bottles and lack of sleep and Dora the Explorer.  At times… you’re fighting off sheer boredom and the desperate need for adult companionship.  They’re cute and all but at some point the milk stained clothing and holey sweatpants is your official uniform, you know the words to every Barney song, puke doesn’t gross you out anymore and you find yourself curled up in the fetal position more often than they are!  It really doesn’t take all that long before your brain goes to mush like sweet potatoes in a Gerber jar.  Making up songs can only entertain you for so long as there really are only so many words that rhyme with poop (coop, goop, hoop, loop and soup if you’re interested).

Chris Illuminati has found a way to amuse himself!  A year ago, this professional writer quit his job to be a stay-at-home dad and in no time was leaving himself post-it-note reminders on just about every topic you can imagine!  It’s as if he was at the office… sticking notes on the side of the computer to motivate himself through another dreadful day but in this case he sticks them to anything baby related and the way he thinks is somewhere between brilliant and mushy pea stupid.  Once the yellow note is written and attached to a particular item, he takes a photo and adds it to his blog “Message With a Bottle“.

Enjoy… Chris has made me laugh out loud multiple times.  He’s also made me wish I could turn back time just so I could hold those darlings a little bit longer not to mention steal his fabulous post-it idea! 

Tomorrow, I’m picking up a pack of yellow stickies and a thick black marker.  I don’t care if they finally learned know how to talk… the stuff I’ll say for them will be far more entertaining!