Nov
19
The Sound of Hurry
by Leslie
Julia has been making it a habit to get up various times through the night and check in with me. Last night went a little like this:
11:46 p.m. – Julia comes downstairs to remind me to turn off the lights before I go to bed. (You know, to avoid a fire.)
12:26 a.m. – Julia comes downstairs to tell me a story about a chocolate fountain. She wants to live in one.
1:47 a.m. – Julia wakes me up to ask me if she can shut the door to her room.
2:27 a.m. – Julia wakes me up to tell me her room is too hot.
3:49 a.m. – Julia’s room is too cold.
4:46 a.m. – Too hot again!
5:11 a.m. – Julia comes in to te- you know, at this point, I don’t really even care what she wants, if that kid wakes me up one more time before my alarm goes off, I’m going to duct tape her to the bed.
Despite her incessant wakefulness, Julia is always fast asleep and difficult to rouse when it’s actually time to be awake. This makes us run late, which means if one little thing goes awry during our morning routine, it all unravels into chaos.
Now, I’m not trying to brag, but I’m pretty good at keeping us on task. I’ve learned I have to tell Julia to brush her teeth at least seven times before she actually does it. I know Lucy is going to find a way to get sticky before we have to head out the door, so I equip my tool belt with a washcloth and an extra shirt. I realize Phoebe will only stay in her bassinet for 3 1/2 minutes before she freaks out, so I’ve learned to jam all the things I need two hands to do into that timeframe. Now and then, I’ll get tripped up by a marker face tattoo or a poopy explosion, but for the most part, we are a well-oiled machine – a fast machine that runs to the beat of “Henry the Eighth, I Am” by Herman’s Hermits.
That’s actually what we listen to in the van as I put the pedal to the metal and it clamors down the road. Julia and Lucy shake their heads back and forth in a sort of reverse headbang in between shouts of, “Henery!!” And when I remember Julia’s first grade year, it will be in the form of a stop-motion video set to that song.
Comments
2 Cool Kids Commented
Stuff I Do
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Stuff You Should Do
You know, Stuff.
You realize that now I want to see a stop motion video of all of you getting out the door in the morning. Do you have any aspiring filmmaker neighbors?
Also, your nightly patience with Julia is impressive. After about 3 times I become less than sympathetic.
I agree with TripleZmom… your patience is astounding. Now, however…that song is stuck in my head.