Being Last Can Be Lonely

Olivia and I are adjusting to Hannah's half days of school.  Two days out of the three so far, Olivia has fallen asleep while Hannah is at morning kindergarten!  Life has suddenly become that boring!

This was the scene today:

I was running around the house trying to clean, and Olivia got comfy on this chair with a stack of books.  Every time I passed by, Olivia would ask me to read her a story, and two or three times I put her off.  "Okay, just a minute and then I'll read to you..." and then I'd clean a window or make a bed or start a load of laundry.

And then, I passed by and noticed that Olivia was passed out.  Asleep with her books.  Wearing her bumble bee costume.  (We found it at the store yesterday and I bought it for Halloween, hung it in her closet.  This morning when it was time to get dressed, she refused to wear anything else, and I gave in.  She has worn it all day--taking it off to eat each meal.  As she was eating lunch, I tried to sneak it back into her closet while she was distracted. But as soon as she finished her lunch, she was climbing up drawers to get it back down.  Just watch--by the time Halloween arrives, she'll probably refuse to wear it!)

Anyway, to me, this picture is both very cute and a little bit sad.  I wish I could sit and read to her all day.  I do try to spend a good amount of time doing just that, and other playful/stimulating/bonding/nurturing things.  But I learned this principle as a college student, before it even applied to my own situation in life: Mothering and Housekeeping are mutually exclusive tasks.  When you're doing well at one, you're probably neglecting the other.  The trick is to find a decent balance.  You'll find plenty of pictures and videos I've taken where my kids are adorable and, in the background, my house is a disaster.  That's embarassing. And then you'll find plenty of pictures like this, where I have to check my balance the other way. A good reminder.  A little bit embarassing, but a whole lot cute!