February with Thing One and Thing Two

Yesterday our cabin fever, my winter blues, and misbehaving children necessitated my taking a brief retreat with baby Angelina into the bedroom to get a few minutes of space and quiet from Bella and Bean. Bella and Bean knew they were on thin ice. Angelina nursed as we enjoyed the peacefulness... and I may or may not have been daydreaming about a vacation to the warm, fresh beaches of Mexico alone with my husband. (Thanks for planting these seeds, Red and Mr. Red.) : )

The solitude was broken as Bella and Bean softly crept in holding hands, one with a fishing net tucked into a belt loop and the other wearing a red bowtie, both with mischievous smiles. Bean was the spokesman:

"Would you like to shake hands with Thing One and Thing Two?"

While these two loves are the absolute lights of my life, precious children with docile hearts and sweet spirits, Dr. Seuss's Thing One and Thing Two are pretty accurate characterizations of them these days. Destroying the house for fun, terrorizing the baby, fighting with each other like little pit bulls. We even killed our two pet goldfish last weekend when they were mysteriously overfed. Now all we're missing is the Cat and the Hat himself.

What is it with February? I remember from past years MaryAlice and Red mentioning what a trying month it can be for mothers at home with young children, and I continue to find that they are correct.

A few things I know are: it's been many months now since long hours of outside afternoon playtime were a part of our routine; the shortened hours of sunlight often make me blue, less patient, and less motivated; there are no big holidays or feast days on the horizon to occupy some of our attention and generate excitement (Valentine's Day only goes so far); illness in our family or in the families we get together with often leads to cancelled plans.

Thank God we have the promise of spring! Five days of February down, only 23 to go!!