Monday Mishaps with Mom - Leave the Baby Alone!

This week is for those moms with kids who refuse to leave their younger siblings alone.

See that picture to the left? My daughter looks so peaceful, and her brother seems so content. But wait just 30 seconds after the picture is snapped, and she'll be squeezing him around the neck, grabbing him by his head, dragging him by his arms or legs across the floor, or just rolling him over and over on the floor, even sitting in front of him and pulling him up to a sitting position, then letting go so he falls back.

Every day, I have to tell her to get off his head and stop trying to pick him up by his head. And it's even worse when he's taking his naps. The afternoon nap isn't problematic, as they take that one at the same time. But the morning nap, if I don't keep my eye on her every second, she's down the stairs and into his room, climbing into his crib, dumping stuffed animals on his head, and waking him up.

That makes for a very cranky infant who just wants to be held, and since he won't go back to sleep after being awakened, it's a VERY long morning.

Oh, how I long for when this little guy can crawl and get mobile and start fighting back. Sure, I know that will mean being a referee to a greater degree, but when they can both do for themselves, those blocks of times when they entertain themselves will increase...I hope.

Would that I could watch my daughter during all of her waking moments, but that isn't possible. And I HAVE to work from home to supplement our income. But all of this is sapping my creativity for my writing, and it's making my clients suffer because I don't have enough blocks of time to do the design work necessary.

They say it takes a miracle to survive a 2-year-old, and I can see "they" are right. Of course, it will be a miracle if I *and* my infant son survive. Praise God we pretty much have our daytime living on one floor or I'm sure she'd be dumping him down the stairs as soon as I turned my back. It's enough to make a mom pull out her hair or scream, only I can't do either. (sigh)

Tune in next week for the next "Monday Mishap with Mom." See you then!

And you can always look at the labels at the bottom of the right column to find "monday mishaps with mom" and read up on any week you've missed. My goal is to encourage mothers who feel a bit frazzled, and to help brighten your day as you start off your week. You're not alone.