Parenting 2.0

Parenting 2.0

Y'all. Having two kids is really hard. I don't know how my grandmother raised 6 essentially by herself. I don't know how anyone has more than two, honestly.

We have been having lots of paradoxical moments where I think, "Oh man, we so don't got this." and five minutes later am glowing with our seeming success in managing a newborn and a 3.5 year old..."Oh yea, we got this!"

For example...

The threenager got out of his bed 72 times last night with various claims
... there is hair in my mouth.
... I need more water.
... I'm still hungry.
... I bumped my elbow.
.... I need more love!

We went from patiently putting him to bed to yelling, "GET IN YOUR BED" in about 2.5 minutes.
::We don't got this::
He finally went to sleep about an hour and a half after his bedtime. Whew...

I cuddled our newborn (aka the blessed child because he cannot talk and therefore cannot ask us 1789 questions), watched a little Game of Thrones (so f-ing good) with the hubbie, had a beer and thought...
::We got this!::

Cue threenager to wake up at 11pm, about 20 minutes after husband got precious newborn to sleep and about an hour before I anticipated having to be up again to feed said newborn.
... I'm scared of the "dark-i-ness"
... I need more love.
... I need three night lights, not two!
... I need you to tuck me in!

The expected yelling match, sweating, struggle ensues.
::We don't got this::

Today I was changing newbie's diaper in the living room and the no-longer-hysterical three year old wanders in with a fist full of parsley and basil he has picked from the kitchen garden so that his baby brother could smell them.

:: We got this::

On the way to the grocery store the three year old asks husband, "What does Mighty One Who Saves mean?" after hearing a song lyric. A discussion about sin and our need of Jesus ( holy cow do we need him) begins.

:: We got this:

At dinner, three year old declares to me, "Mama you cannot ever leave me. That is SIN."

:: Ok, maybe we don't got this.::

We are exhausted, over caffeinated, in love, exasperated, ready to cuddle and/or sell our threenager at and kissing/begging our newborn to sleep at any given moment. We are thankful for grace upon grace, for mercies new every morning (and espresso).

ready... set... motherhood.

11 days.

thats how long i've been staring at this little bundle known as my son, jack.

i can stare at him as i type this, his little face peeking out of a bundle of blankets as he sleeps next to me. i stare at him at 2am, 4am, and 6am (hah if only it were that predictable) as we figure out the mystery of nursing.

staring probably isn't the right word... gazing, gulping him in, being in awe. those are closer.

today i was struck by the way that Jesus is teaching me to love this little man and showing me how He loves me in the process. at 5:24 am jack started sqwuaking (i dont know how to spell that word) and i did my best to ignore him and pretend he wasn't waking up. again. to eat. again. i was desperately tired from the breastfeeding battle 2k11 that rages on in the wee hours of the night and really wanted to use jedi mind powers to talk him into going back to sleep. with a small sigh of defeat (and by small i mean loud enough that matthew heard me and said 'i'm sorry honey'), i got up, gathered the little bundle, and shuffled to the nursery to assume the position.

then i looked. and saw my son. and felt patience and love flood past my tears of frustration. settling in for a half hour of looking.

it hit me today while i was at the gym (one of greg's sermons on unity i had listened to while nursing being the catalyst for these thoughts) that this is exactly what Jesus wants for us. he wants us to feel how love can put our selfishness in check. how we can acknowledge someone else's needs are greater than ours and we can put them before ourselves. in humility. with love. making our joy complete.

while i want more sleep (a lot more), i want more of Jesus putting my heart in check even more. at whatever time of day that may happen.

Comments on the Baby Bump

School started today!!! I'm so happy to be back... I pretty much ran on adrenaline all day but had to share a few funny comments from kiddos about the baby bump:

K asked, "When's your baby coming?"

I replied, "December 1st!"

K asked, "What time?"

I said, "Thats a surprise!"

It's funny how some kids know too little... and some know wayyy too much!

N looked at my belly and said, "Miss Shannon what happened to you??"

R asked, "What face you gonna make when the baby comes out?"

dear children,
again, i think you overestimate cousins.
love,
ms shannon

me: dont be a bully. you're not going to have friends if you are being mean.
k: so. i dont need friends. i got cousins.

child: ms shannon. i got bad news.
me: oh yea whats that?
child: i peed all over myself.
me: bad news indeed.

man these grapes are smokin' yummy.
-- t.

me: what did you build?
c: a house.
me: who lives in the house.
c: america.



i hope you do build houses for america to live in, little friend.

dear babies,
science is hard. i know.
love,
ms shannon

me: do you know what gravity is?
z :I KNOW!
me: what is it?
z: MAGIC!

dear munchkins,
i wish i could take all of you on vacation with me.
then i rethink that wish.
love,
ms shannon

me: boys and girls i wont be here tomorrow because me and mr matthew are going on vacation to a cabin in the woods.
z: where are you gonna sleep?
s: where are you gonna go to the bathroom!
me: guys, cabin is another word for house.

speaking of professionals...

while at the writing center, T interrupted A as she was about to go to town with the stapler.

T: No, A! you can't use the stapler. you have to be a professional. here watch me. i'm a professional.


clearly all you need is confidence.

dear children,
i can't wait to see what you actually become when you grow up.
love,
ms shannon

me: C, what do you want to be when you grow up?
C: (((long pause))) santa clause. (shorter pause) does santa live in outer space?
me: last time i checked he lived in the north pole.
C: where's the north pole?
t: oh the north pole is way out in the country.

dear children,
cousins and colors are two different things. we'll work on this after spring break.
love,
ms shannon

C: look ms shannon! d and me and both wearing blue! that means we're cousins!


close, so close.

happy spring break

dear children,
sometimes you are great at telling the truth.
love,
ms shannon

earlier this week we had a literacy event at school and i had planned to bring j with me because her family doesn't have a car. r immediately begged me to bring her too.

r: why can't you bring ME tonight?
me: because your mom can bring you.
r: but i need a BREAK from my mom! my mom needs a break from me! we all need a break!

dear children,

i love it when you try and cover all your bases to get what you want.

yesterday a little hispanic boy rode up to me and ms va and pointing at ms va's bike said, "me want that bike." (which happened to be the exact same bike he was already riding but no matter)

ms va prompted him, "por favor?"

he responded, "pleasethankyouyou'rewelcome."

R: Why didn't you get a tv for Christmas?
Me: Because I didn't have any money.
R: You don't need money! God'll make the present and Santa delivers it.


"Ms Shannon can I have a new book log? Michael Jackson broke in my house and stole mine."

Some recent quotes...

During a lesson on Hanukkah...
Me: Ok, so who remembers what the name of building is where the Jewish people worshiped God?
Student: Oo I know! Nipple!
Me: Close... its temple. Good try.

A student at mg's school:
"Hi this is my good friend P. She's severely autistic."

A child at my school after working very hard to peel a tangerine and eating one piece:
Ahhh that was refreshing.

Me: Are you going to work hard to be a good friend today and not hit or spit?
Child: Yes. I was in my bed and I prayed to Jesus that he would help me not hit my brother too.

A child rolling over on her cot at nap time:
Oh my gosh.... I broke my hip.

Conversation with a 6th grader about my job:

6th grader: You teach preschool!? I don't know how you do it.
Me: Well... they're cute.
6th grader: Cute won't get you through the whole day.