Thursday, February 5, 2009

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!!

8 comments:

JesusThroughMary said...

There's always the joy of Lent to look forward to.

Right Said Red said...

Amen to that. I'll post pictures of our Mexico trip next week. Just to clue you all in on the inside dish, Mr. Red and I took a trip to Mexico, without the kiddos, and it was fabulous. Time away in a warm place has definitely given me a better perspective on the whole February/March thing. These months stink! Kids are sick, and it is freezing cold. Just yesterday, Gianna said to me, "Mama, I really want it to be April." Poor thing, she wants to skip right over her birthday month of March!

Right Said Red said...

And I forgot to add that I like JesusthroughMary's new photo. When is mad cow going to get a picture up?

AWOL Mommy said...

Man, JM, you could really capitalize on this for a superb photo op. The red bodysuits would be east to accomplish, now all you have to be willing to do is dye their hair blue. Why do I feel like Bella would not approve? She would probably demand pink. Keep it real, girl, have you tried the museums of Philly? Could be an option, even if just for the elevators and vending machines..

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad for this post. I never really put it together why this month stinks so bad, but it's so true.
I suppose it's good to recognize it, maybe next year I can have plans in place to curb the insanity.

My problem is that it's so much work to go anywhere with 3 kids, that I have a hard time knowing if the pay off will be worth it.
3 hats, 3 mittens that always come off, 3 shoes, diaper bag, snacks, 3 carseat buckles...blah...blah. Can't wait to shuffle the kids out the back door in their bare feet and tell them they are free to eat dirt!

Kathleen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kathleen said...

I am feeling the winter blues today so bad and when that happens I tend to spend more time on the computer and become less productive and interactive with the kids. My two year old is wandering around in the family room with a bag of chips I did not give her. Sigh. Another reason why I love daily mass, no matter what, I know I am going to have to dress myself and the kids and get to mass even if its the only time we leave all day. (Our Mass is @ noon)

I am not sure if the Groundhog saw is shadow or not, but here is hoping spring comes soon!

Kat said...

I love this image of Bean and Bella, how cute!

JM, you're very smart to "escape" to the bedroom for a few minutes of time away from the big kids, just to give yourself a break! I do the same thing sometimes...Kids can sometimes just push all of the right buttons to make us crazy! :)