Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Memories I Will Laugh About Later (#1)

Things are a bit difficult lately.  You know that adage, you'll laugh about it later?  Well, I'm placing all my faith into that statement.  To help things, I've decided to write about the tough stuff to remind my future self of how funny things were at this time.

Enjoy.

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Remember going to your 6-week check-up with all three kids? BY YOURSELF? In that office, Andrew climbed up on the sink, multiple times, and emptied the glove box, the tissue box, and the paper towels all over the floor while you attempted to keep a very fussy Amelia calm through breast-feeding.   The nurse remarked, "You brave woman, three kids and so calm." You laughed because your blood pressure showed otherwise with its high - for you - numbers.

I think your brain has suppressed the rest of the visit, so I'll spare you the details.

That was funny.

And the rest of the day, you remember that?  Ben was working a long day (from 9 am until 10 pm) and you were optimistic that things would be okay.  I mean, what could happen right?

You soon ate those words.

While you were in the kitchen making dinner, Andrew found and spilled almost all the salt out of the big container, dumped water all over the floor, and woke up Amelia.  Amelia proceeded to scream as you tried to finish dinner with tears streaming down your face.  It's no wonder that you burned the dinner, twice, and somehow spilled paint (which fell from the top of the fridge, don't ask) all over yourself and Amelia.

Yeah, that was funny.

To top it all off, while putting them in the bath (and hoping for some sanity), Andrew pooped in the bathtub.  Emily woke up Amelia, again. You cleaned up Andrew's poop with Amelia in your arms and dishearteningly listened as Andrew and Emily took out every toy in their room.

Hilarious.

When you finally put the kids in bed, you realized why your left boob was hurting so bad, and why you were starting to feel sick: a clogged milk duct.

Meh.

You continued cleaning the kitchen while trying to ignore the kids that were coming in and out of their rooms.  You seriously considered installing bars on their doors until you realized how complicated that would get.  So you sat down with a box of ice cream instead.

Oh, what a funny day.

11 comments:

  1. What would we do without ice cream? Seriously.

    Wow - so glad you lived to tell the tale. Funny to an outsider but I bet you felt differently about it. And clogged ducts are the worst. I don't think I would ever laugh about it, even 20 years in the future. Ugh.

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  2. I am currently letting my house get even shittier than it usually is and doing as little as possible so that my sore breast doesn't turn into full blown mastitis. I still look back on those early days with 3 kids under age 3 with a mix of emotions, yes it was funny, but it was also utterly exhausting and mind-numbingly boring. I wish we could get together and let our kids destroy each others messy houses and comiserate together. I always have a carton of moose tracks ice cream in the freezer, just for that sort of day.

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  3. I, too, went to my 6 week appt with the 3 kids. AND the appointment to get my IUD put in with 3 kids - which we sat and waited for 2 HOURS (with 3 kids, may I remind you) because they had an "emergency" elsewhere.

    Mastitis is the worst. Got it with Camie and Ben. And then - isn't it LOVELY - you have to go back AGAIN to that blasted doctor's office just so they can confirm it. With 3 kids in tow.

    Not sure I'll ever laugh about it.....
    :)

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  4. Ice cream. Yep. Very effective. Or in my case, Reeses cups.

    Whatever it takes...

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  5. Ice cream. Acceptance that toys belong on the floor and beds are crumpled messes and meals must include a thank you, even if you could only muster cheese and bread. Three is a lot.

    Hugs! Big ones. And laughter. Because otherwise we'd cry and I for one want laughter wrinkles, not frown lines.

    I hope you got a warm shower for that clogged duct - that and massage were the only things that saved me.

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  6. I've sooo been there. I'm sorry you had such a craptastic day. Just keep breathing and putting one foot in front of the other. And drink wine. ;)

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  7. Oh, and lots and lots of ice cream. (It heals all!)

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  8. Yup, that about sums up life with three sometimes, doesn't it? I'm glad you could find the humor upon reflection even if it was hard to find it in the moment itself. You are such a terrific mama, Amber, and your kids are lucky to have you. May the days ahead be filled with normal blood pressure and no poop in the tub! xo

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  9. That is a very bad, no-good, horrible day. One of those days where you cry first and then you have to laugh, because if you don't, you'll cry again.

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  10. [...] my baby cries until 1 am, when I’m changing 3 sets of diapers, when I’m cleaning up multiple poop messes during the week, when I subsist on chocolate and cheerios, and when Ben is working 14 hour work [...]

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  11. Thank goodness for ice cream. It's all about what can get you through the day.

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