On why the rationale for this blog no longer exists

True confession: I started this blog because I thought maternity leave would be boring.  I knew it wouldn’t be “easy” all the time.  But I did think it would be repetitive, mind-numbing, and filled with lots of random hours when the baby was fast asleep and I would have nothing to do but wait for his next awakening.  Oh my, false.  Even before the brown one injured himself, it was false. 

First off, there were very rarely any random “hours” of X being asleep.  He sleeps in 5-6 hour stretches at night (hooray!) but then in 15-30 minute stretches during the day.  So there’s very little contiguous time.

Second, I use those teeny tiny fragments of time to do desperate necessities, like checking emails and Facebook (you like the order of my priorities?), showering, grooming, grabbing a meal, opening the mail, sterilizing bottles, trying to stem the tide of STUFF! that is constantly encroaching on my coffee table, kitchen counters, and living room…  (Please note though, you are welcome to phone and entertain me while I do these things!  Or while I am holding X.  Thank heavens, at least I can multi-task on the phone!  Except for the showering bit, obviously.)

Third, it’s just not boring!  Even when I am doing repetitive things like changing diapers, feeding X, bathing X…he’s just become so interesting as a little person.  So those activities are filled with my talking to him, reading to him, engaging him in “conversation” (he adores saying “Ah Goo” and cracks up when you say it back to him), and saying things to him in English, then Spanish, then French (a fun way for Mama to freshen her language skills too!  Fear not, I am only saying things about which I am confident in my grammar.  No pidgin languages in this house!  AHEM.) 

In any event, not boring.  Hardly a dull moment.

It's a good thing that Jheri curls are no longer in style, Mama.  They wouldn't work on me.

Now, on top of the normal baby chaos described above, enter the brown one…

In many ways, he’s doing a LOT better.  In others, not so much.  We suspect he’s having some unfortunate tummy-related side effects from one or all of his four different medications :(  We are calling the vet to discuss today. 

But the real tragedy of his post-op care is depicted below.  That is a dachshund on a leash and hoisted in a sling, being taken out for one of his 5 daily 10-15 minute potty/exercise breaks. Yup.  As in for the next FOUR MONTHS, he must live in a separate small crate from his brother (they have always shared a big crate) and he must have very limited movement (pretty much just potty breaks and practice using the hind legs again).  That means that either Mama or Dad needs to take him out at 9 am, 12 pm, 4:30 pm, 9 pm, and midnight each day.*  Farewell to our brilliant system of self-sufficient dachshunds who let themselves in and out via the doggy door. 

Superimpose that schedule onto a new baby and voila, the rationale for this blog is obliterated!

Will try to post when I can.  But it’s taken me four days to find time to craft this post, so you get the idea…


Oh, the humiliation.


* Mama is fully aware that she is going to need to figure out some way to take care of the brown one if ever we need to go anywhere or when she goes back to work.  But she has shelved that huge anxiety-inducing chain of thought for another day.