Monday, February 25, 2013

oj. what a day.

Today I reached a new threshold of motherhood.

In case you'd care to relive the story (and you might not; read at your own risk), here's what happened.

Within the span of 30 minutes this morning...

1) I help Julie take off her sleeper, and she plays happily and then decided she wanted her diaper off too. She gets it (disposable) off by herself (only pee) and I take it, thinking no big deal; air-time is good.

2) Several minute later she's playing happily with balls. She goes behind the couch, gets quiet, and as I realize what's happening, it happens: an enormous poo falls out. Thankfully on the wood floor.

3) She is horrified at what she's done, and I try to encourage her that it's fine, her pooping is nothing to be sad about...hoping to help her make the connection between the action and the result.  [potty training may commence soon]

4) As I'm doing that a little one comes out in another spot on the floor.

5) Now she's got poo on her butt, and some on her ankle, so I scoop her up and throw her in the tub. I manage to spray her clean with the shower hose, and she asks for a bath. I wasn't planning on it, but I think, 'oh what the heck, why not?'

why not.

6) I let the water start to fill up and when there's a millimeter or two in the tub I run with a paper towel to pick up the poop from the dining room floor. I've got it in my hands and I peak in the bathroom to make sure she's OK.  She's distressed.

7) I leave the poop on the washing machine when I see that she's pooped in the tub; she's horrified again. (this is my first poo-in-bath-water-experience too...)   I scoop her out and carry her to the changing table.

8) Wipes. Diaper. Set her down.

9) Clean the bath tub.

10) Start to dress poor babes. Realize it smells.

11) Yes, there is another poop in the cloth diaper, so i get yet another privilege of cleaning some damp poo stuck to the diaper in the toilet.

12) Julie is fully dressed, in a clean cloth diaper, playing.  I hope that's the end of the story.

.....

It's not.  Twice after lunch Julie has little tiny throw ups, which are directly after eating something I told her not to.  Fuj.  (dirt, and some unknown -scary- food article that I was cleaning off our stovetop)   Not big deals.  

Julie hadn't really eaten lunch, and then she had thrown up whatever was in her tummy.  But she was acting tired (and she's sick with a cold), so I put her down for a nap.  Just when I was thinking she must be sleeping, she let out an unusual upset and panicked cry.   She'd thrown up in her crib, down her sleep sack.  And she wasn't finished.  

Thankfully, clean up is relatively simple.  Scoop up sheet and water-proof mat.  It didn't touch stuffed animals.  Take off her clothes. Start laundry.  We wipe her face, brush her teeth, She's chipper and happy, not acting tired at all.  

At this point I'm ready to turn in this day for a new one. 

I gave Juls crackers and water.  And she was happily eating and drinking while I was skyping, when I noticed the all-to-familiar body posture. Thankfully, I slid the computer out of the way.  Julie threw up all over us and the carpet.  Poor kid.  Another laundry basket full of dirty clothes awaiting its turn.  This time Julie was really tired, and after being cleaned up, she fell asleep.  

The thing is, this only begins to give a feel for the day I've had.  I started the day with almost every pot and pan dirty.  The stove and counter was unusually dirty.  There was the regular laundry load.  And the reorganizing of the bookshelf that Julie had demolished on Saturday.  And the re-potting fiasco I unnecessarily (but therapeutically) put myself through today. [Hence the eating of dirt.] 

Now I am sitting down in a relatively clean home, while pizza dough is rising, enjoying tea and chocolate.  Thankful for clean clothes, a working washing machine, and that this day won't last forever.  It's really not so bad.  And I handled the situations calmly, cleaned the messes, and gave Julie comfort.  I did it on my own, without too much difficulty.  It's just that when you experience things like this in your day, you really want to share them with someone--an adult preferably.  You would turn to a co-worker if something crazy like this happened at work.  But when you're a stay-at-home-parent, you generally have to process it all by yourself.  So it's easy to turn to the Internet.  I understand why moms so often post statuses and blogs, etc.:  because we're constantly experiencing new things and weathering new challenges for which we have had little-to-no training for.  And we crave an outlet and a place to process and get feedback too.  

1 comment:

Kristie Corpus said...

haha.
sorry to laugh. I've had days almost identical to yours!!