Going Off Script, etc.

Another night of putting the kids to bed myself. My brilliant wife prefers to go shopping at night without the kids. Knowing what she goes through taking the kids shopping with her, I can't blame her a bit. Logistics get tricky, however, because although I can read to all of them together, I have to put them all to bed separately and with a different routine. The baby needs a bottle, the toddler needs to go potty first, and our little boy says his own prayers with us next to him. The trickiest thing is the bottle--I can't feed the baby while I'm reading, and I can't make the other two kids wait for books while I'm feeding the baby. So I tried to improvise. After reading books to all of them, I tried to entertain the older two with silly songs while feeding the baby. To my surprise, it worked. I think part of the reason was that I was willing to move "off script" and play along with them by making up words and sounds that don't belong in the song. We got plenty of laughs, though I had to tolerate a few wrestling matches and other silliness. Knowing my ability to get frustrated when things aren't exactly as I want them, I feel a true sense of accomplishment when I have to put the kids to bed by myself and they go down with smiles on their faces.

*By the way, tonight confirmed that the hardest part of every day for a while will be dinner time. Our baby girl now wants to feed herself, and we want her to learn how. That means food on the floor. Our little girl often tries everything but gets bored and restless quickly. Our son won't even start eating until 20 minutes into dinner, which means that by the time "the kitchen closes," he's missed out on whatever incentive was predicated upon finishing dinner--tonight it was riding bikes outside. Interestingly, he threw a bit of a tantrum, only to be found a minute later playing on the couch and singing happily, "Shew fly, don't bother me." It seems like we have to mentally and emotionally prepare ourselves all day for this moment. It makes bath time and bed time seem like a breeze. I guess the only good side to all this is that my wife makes delicious food, and I get to eat what they leave on their plates.