I'm learning

There's a My Utmost for His Highest entry that talks about how the process is the goal in the spiritual life. Chambers writes, "We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal. He is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the goal."

Well, I think I'm learning that this isn't just true for the spiritual life, but also in parenting. Right now it's 12:56 pm, both girls are napping and I'm feeling tempted (if it's even possible to be tempted to scrub toilets) to scurry off to the bathrooms and get them cleaned before my little "helper" wakes up. Cleaning with Emery always takes three times as long, since we must account for a certain amount of sharing of the cleaning apparati, plenty of "no touches!" of the dirty toilet seat, silencing whines that she'd rather me be doing something else or paying attention to her, quick darts into the next room to confirm that Anna Kimball is sufficiently entertained and not too lonely ... and on and on and on.

I'm definitely tempted to whine here, too, because quite honestly this isn't how I'd prefer to spend an afternoon. BUT, it struck me that isn't this the point of parenting? To teach patience, cleanliness, creativity and so forth. Yes, the bathrooms will get clean, eventually, in just the same way they will get dirty again, and quickly! But maybe the greater reward and goal is that we all have learned something along the way.

This all sounds a bit pie-in-the-sky to me in a way, but at the same time, I feel I have no choice but to believe it and continue to keep little fingers off dirty toilet seats in the hopes we're accomplishing more than just a clean bathroom.

Miscellaneous

I've been putting off blogging recently because I'm just not sure what to blog about ... I feel so scattered these days. For example, twice now in the last week or so I've had a pot on the stove and forgotten all about it, only to return later and find all the water evaporated! Perhaps this is what having a baby will do to you?

Here's some of what's been going on:

• Sleeping (Emery that is, not really me) - of all the baby books I've read, my favorite has been "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. The best thing I've taken away so far is that up till about four months old, infants can't tolerate being awake more than two hours at a time. This little fact has taken all the guesswork out of understanding Emery's meltdowns! It also means I have to become a sleep nazi, which isn't always fun ... however, having a well rested, contented child is a ton of fun, so sleep nazi I will be! Dr. Weissbluth also says that sleep begets sleep - this is very reassuring, especially on days when Emery seems to barely be awake and I start to get nervous about what that means for the night ahead.
• Talking- I've heard that it's good to talk to your baby a lot, so I'm trying to do that, but I must confess, it's not always easy. Right now, even though she's getting more interactive, it's usually like talking to a wall. Sometimes I feel a little ridiculous giving her a play-by-play of what I'm up to, what we're going to do next, etc. when I often don't even get a coo in response! Her stuffed singing giraffe gets more of a response out of her than her own mother! But I will not give up. I will not be bested by a stuffed animal.
  
• One errand a day - In my endeavor to respect Emery's need to sleep, I try to limit us to one errand/outing a day. This requires a lot of willpower since we're in a new town and there's a lot I'd like to see and do, and a lot I need to buy and do, too. Now I realize how much I took for granted the ability to run out and do whatever I wanted pre-motherhood, because no matter how hard I try, it always seems like we end up at Walmart or the grocery store! In all honesty, though, I'm thrilled that I'm able to go to both of these places, that Emery is so easy to take out, and that one of these days I'll be able to squeeze in a trip to the dry cleaners, too!

A new kind of "Sunday blues"

I used to get the "Sunday blues" on Sunday afternoons, and often even late in the day on Saturday, with the prospect of the work week and daily grind starting up again all too soon.

Well, I'm realizing that the maternity work week is really 7 days a week, 24 hours a day (of course with obvious perks and I wouldn't trade it for anything), so the Sunday blues should be a thing of the past, right?

Wrong. I felt them coming on yesterday as the prospect of Matt returning to work set in! Ironic, since for the past six months all we wanted was for him to be able to go to work in the first place!

This was our first "normal" weekend as mom and dad, in our new place in Chattanooga, taking care of Emery, enjoying some down time, trying to unpack, etc. And he's such a huge help! I was able to go to the grocery store by myself, take a run and a longer than ordinary shower.

So I suppose I might always be dealing with the Sunday blues ... on the bright side, Emery is learning to sleep on her own and that more than compensates for any case of the Sunday blues.

Too much Food Network

You know you've been watching too much Food Network when you see Giada whip up penne with treviso and goat cheese twice in the same week. (and by the way, for any Giada fans out there, is it just me, or is she always cooking with penne, and never any other kind of pasta?)

I'm normally not much of a TV watcher, but sometimes I just need a diversion when feeding Emery ... ok, a lot of the time. :) My rotation is basically made up of Good Morning America, any show revolving around buying or selling a home on HGTV (which pretty much sums up all of their shows) and practically any cooking show on the Food Network.

Paula Dean is starting to drive me a little crazy though, despite the fact that I'm moving south and should be warming up to all things buttery, creamy, cheesy and greasy ... and Giada is too, especially with how she always has to articulate her ingredients with an Italian accent and starts every sentence with the word "now."

Today I rediscovered a cooking podcast that I don't often get a chance to listen to (Spilled Milk) and am thinking that podcasts might need to replace TV, at least for a little while.