Working for the weekend

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Holden has a slight head cold, enough to make him want some medicine to sleep. This means that when the medicine wears off around 3-4 a.m., someone gets up with him to give him said medicine and cuddle-rock him back to sleep. That foot is me.

Plus I’m anxious about him getting up so last night, for example, I was still awake at 2:30 when he started to stir & fuss. And I’d had about 45 minutes of sleep when he started up again.

So when I saw this at NPR this morning, I had to give it a listen while I drank a bottled Frapucchino to kick-start my day:

If stay-at-home moms made a salary, one study estimates that it would be $117,000 — and most of the paycheck would come from overtime. A mom works nearly 100 hours a week. Even without the salary, there are benefits — like a heartfelt “thank you” this Mother’s Day.

Overtime. You know that commercial where Brooke Shields says her day starts at dawn and ends at dawn? Yeah, it’s about like that. This morning I was trying to get a decent amount of sleep and by 9, Zoe was in our room sitting in the bed, pulling the covers off me & saying, “Come on Mommy. The sun is shining and it’s wakey time.”

The sun is in fact not shining. Plus Hawk is working, as he will be tomorrow morning. So I had no choice but to haul my sorry, ample ass out of bed and start the day. BTW: I’m currently trying a Pirates of the Caribbean temporary tattoo back there. I found it in the kitchen so I applied it. It does not bother me.

So anyway…

Mothers Day has applied to me since 2003 (when I was pregnant w/ Zoe) and I never felt much need or desire to do anything about it. Last year, for example, I cooked. I think this year Hawk is inviting Bets over. I have no idea. But you know what I’d like more than a Cone or a Scooba? I’d like a break. A real break. Not an hour to sleep in only to have kids dumped on the bed b/c Daddy needs a potty break. Not a clock-ticking writing session where I’m constantly interrupted by “I want a snack” or “Maa-maa. Eat?” I would like to watch an TV show without an orange “Nick Jr” paint splatter in the corner. I would like to listen to my iPod with the volume up loud enough so I don’t hear “Look Mommy” every four minutes. I would like to completely involve myself in some editing work or my crochet project (which is something I’m making for myself). I’d like to get my eyebrows waxed without organizing a mass effort of coordination of childcare. I’d like to go to a movie in a theater.

I truly love motherhood. I love spending time with my kids more than anyone else on this planet. They’re funny, interesting people. But just for half a day, I’d like a respite from the dawn-to-dawn schedule.

But I wouldn’t turn down a Scooba.

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Tags: parenting