Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Poor, Lonely Only Child

I have not poured apple juice for anyone but myself for a week. I have brushed only my own teeth. I have broken up exactly zero arguments and have not lost my temper once.
***
With each successive child after Ewelina I have felt tinges of guilt or hints of sadness that the poor second, third or fourth child never gets as much of my attention or has such a charmed life as the first did.

Now the oldest three have been at their grandparent's house for almost a week and instead of being grateful that Spencer can finally experience having me and Greg all to himself, I keep thinking how poor he is that he doesn't have all his built-in best friends who love him so much around.

We've been traveling like crazy during this week, but on the rare occasions Spencer wasn't strapped into his car seat he certainly showed that he can rise above only-child boredom by: cutting his first tooth, learning to clap and almost starting to crawl.

I guess technically you can learn to clap and cut a tooth while buckled into a car seat, but whatever.
***
The stairs have not been mopped for over a week* and the dust is building up. All the snacks I bought two weeks ago are still sitting in the cupboard. The silence is ringing in my ears and giving me a headache.

This has been extremely good for me in so many ways, but I am excited to have my noisy house, emptying cupboards and dust-free stairs back on Tuesday. And I admit I've spent some time staring at this picture this week.
*Ev and Dave mop (or dust, really) floors of the entire house every day.

10 comments:

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

I can't wait till my kids are old enough to mop. What? That wasn't the message of the post? =P

I so get this. I thought Emma going to school would be so fabulous, but really Becca misses her like crazy and I miss her and her helpfulness. September is going to be hard.

Erin said...

every day!? WOW! I would miss them too. :)

Melissa said...

Being the middle child in a large family people ask if I liked having so many brothers and sisters. True I didn't get as much attention from my parents, but I got plenty from my sibs. Isn't it great that they look out for each other (when they aren't fighting?)
I wonder if your kids are thea same ages as mine? 8,6,4 and baby? Pretty close anyway?

Kazzy said...

Can Ev and Dave come spend time at my house??? :)

Cute kids!

Liz said...

I am so glad you had a nice, but busy week. I love that you got a 'break'. Funny how when I am with my family, I think about how badly I need a break. And when I get even a short one - I wonder what they are doing and miss them the whole time.

Barbaloot said...

How nice that you're capable of appreciating both scenarios:) Glad your kids have a mom who likes having them around.

Alison Wonderland said...

I really need to go away, or have my kids taken away for long enough to miss them. Alas it's just not going to happen any time soon. Enjoy it.

Lesley said...

How wonderful that they can spend time with grandparents getting spoiled! I miss mine like crazy too, although they don't really have grandparents that can take them for a week, they did go with their dad on a trip for a few days and after day 1 I was done and ready for the noise and chaos to return!

Melanie Jacobson said...

We finally got kid #1 back after he was gone for the summer. The house is way messier, way louder and way awesomer.

Susan said...

I was just gone by myself to CA for a week. I was so missing the kids, but at least I got to get the love and chaos of nieces and nephews. Being in my own house for that long without the kids would be truly weird.