It's been so long

I miss coming here and writing about what my monkeys are up to. In fact, I miss my monkeys. Especially Adam Monkey.

Since Natasha sleeps the whole time she spent at daycare, I decided to pull her out and save a few bucks. Because it ain't easy hauling two kids in and out of the ol' Excursion, and having only a few hours before I have to haul Nat back out into the 3 degree temps to go pick Adam up from daycare, I decided to have Adam go 3 full days instead of 4 half days.

We are adjusting, but I miss my little guy so much. I only get to see him for about one hour on Mondays and Tuesdays. It doesn't sound like much, but it really is taking its toll on me. I deeply resent being in class when people are chiming on making class run longer than it ought to. I have a family to get home to...can't everyone just stick to the agenda?

The bright side is I get all day Thursday and Friday to spend with both kiddos. That's mostly a good thing. Although I do long for a break every now and then. Miraculously, they both decide to not sleep at all on Thursdays. I think this routine is just hard on everyone.

Speaking of routine, we desperately need a new one. The old one was to plop both kiddos into the bath after dinner. We have a handy bathtub seat for Natasha so she could sit upright in the tub with Adam and not get knocked over and/or drowned. But it doesn't stop him from pouring water over her head and stuffing her face full of bubbles or gouging her eyes out. So, they don't get to bathe together anymore.

After bathtime, Adam used to settle down nicely in front of the tube watching Little Einsteins or Dora. Then you could read him a book and he'd be out. Not anymore. Now getting him to sleep requires lots of bargaining, battling, crying, consoling, etc. It's like we've taken a step backward.

Natasha...well, she's a great napper, but when it comes to sleeping at night, she refuses to sleep anywhere other than our bed. This wasn't a problem the first few months when she was relatively immobile, but she has, I am afraid to admit, fallen off the bed more than once now. That wasn't a problem when I was in bed with her, but now that she's getting bigger, she just tosses and turns all night long keeping me awake. I cannot remember the last night of good sleep I've had.

Neither DH nor I have a backbone when it comes to "training" our kids to learn to sleep on their own. It is most definitely taking its toll on us. But how do I not give in when I am at school and miss them so much? I feel guilty for being gone at all!

God I am a wimp. I am afraid my kids have already figured this out, too!