About This Blog
Welcome to my blog. I'm Anne-Marie Nichols, a 40-something WAHM to Nathan, 6, and Lucie, 3. I've been married 12 years to their dad Paul, a scientist. When I'm not doing the mommy thing, I'm a freelance writer, and vice president of the board of directors for a Colorado public charter school. In my spare time I like to sleep, eat, read, and decorate cakes.
I created this online journal to share some entertaining and insightful stories from my own experiences as a writer, domestic engineer, and mom. I encourage you to share this blog with your friends, and hopefully it will spark some lively discussions on issues we can all relate to. Enjoy!
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Dec 4 2008
Bubble bath
Knowing that Lucie would be reluctant to interrupt her playtime to bathe, I proposed that we take a bath together.
"Mommy too?" Lucie asked as I filled the tub with hot water and lots of lavender bubble bath. "Yes, mommy, too," I replied. I helped Lucie in the tub, and then got in myself. As I settled into the hot water and mounds of bubbles, I silently congratulated myself on buying a house with an oversized tub.
It's been awhile since I've bathed with my kids. Stuck at home with toddler Nathan, it was one of those activities where I'd try to treat myself to something relaxing while keeping him entertained. It never quite worked out as I'd end up exhausted from keeping Nathan above water and out of trouble.
When Lucie was a baby, I'd get the three of us in the tub. With one hand, I'd hold a slippery Lucie while I shampooed Nathan or washed myself with the other. To wash my hair, I'd have Nathan sit in a corner of the tub down by my feet, while I placed Lucie upright on my tummy. Holding her by the armpits with my two hands, I'd scoot down until I was flat on my back with my head in the water. Then I'd sit up. Cradling a squirmy Lucie in one arm, I'd squeeze shampoo on to my palm and then shampoo my hair with one hand. I'd repeat the scooting down procedure to rinse, desperately hoping that Lucie would not slip and accidentally go under. Hardly relaxing, some days it was the only way I could bathe.
Last night was different. At three, Lucie is big enough to be in a fully filled tub. As I enjoyed the hot water, Lucie counted my "dots," what she calls beauty marks. Then we played "haircut salon," which meant Lucie got to pour water on my head many times as she gave me a mock shampoo. I even pumiced my feet and shaved my legs.
Best of all? No icky boys (Nathan and Paul) trying to get into the tub with us! The fellas should go camping more often.
Nov 27 2008
I'm done, get over it
I don't know what's going on with my children lately, but there seems to be a movement underway for a new baby brother...or two.
Earlier this fall, Lucie got a book from the library about a family having a new baby. That's fine, it was a cute story. Then she brought it to preschool and told her teachers that I was having a baby. Not that they believed her, but Mrs. Jansen asked anyway. When I told her that I was too old to have any more babies -- I'm 41 after all -- Lucie started to cry, "But I want a baby brudder."
So we made an agreement that she could "borrow" a couple of baby brudders, I mean brothers, from some of the moms we knew. We settled on my friend Michelle's little boy, Aidan, who's gorgeous and a big flirt. Whenever Aidan's around I'm compelled to pick him up and kiss him.
Since Lucie needed two babies, we decided to borrow my friend Emily's little boy Declan, too. Declan is even less a morning person than Lucie. He always has a big frown on his face when Emily drops his big brother off at preschool. His expression just cracks me up. But he's adorable and looks just like my nephew Oliver did at that age, lots of white blond hair and big blue eyes.
I did notify the moms just in case Lucie mentioned something. Michelle and Emily told me they'd be happy for us to borrow their boys anytime. Oh boy, what was I getting into? Luckily, after our "compromise" the subject went away for a while.
Then today we were reading, Froggy's Baby Sister. In it, Froggy wants a baby brother (but ends up with a sister). Lucie started with the "I want a baby brudder" tirade again, and got very upset when I said that I was not going to have any more babies. Then I reminded her about Baby Aidan and Baby Declan.
"That's OK, Mama," Lucie said. "I only need one baby brudder. Can Baby Aidan come over? He can sleep in my bed."
Oh boy, just when I got rid of all the diapers in the house, too.
Nov 25 2008
She's sick, I'm exhausted
When Paul goes away, Lucie usually wakes up in the middle of the night and joins me in my bed. It's almost expected, and in order to get a good night's sleep (I don't fall back to sleep easily) I just let her go to bed on Paul's side. But this night was different. After coming back from a friend's house -- one of the many holiday home-shopping parties I've attended this season -- both kids got into their pajamas and beds with no fuss. In fact, Lucie promised to sleep in her own bed that night.
She came in at 2:30 a.m. complaining that her ear hurt. Since she had a cold, I was afraid it was the start of an ear infection. After giving her a dose of children's ibuprofen for the pain (she didn't have a fever) we tried to go back to bed. After a restless half an hour, I turned on the light and read, while Lucie watched Sesame Street. We finally went back to bed around 4:30 a.m.
Luckily Nathan woke me up at 7 a.m. I told him to get dressed, while I slipped on some sweats and washed my face. Forget makeup. I was exhausted and knew I'd be spending the day in bed with Lucie when we weren't at the doctor's office. I fixed Nathan breakfast and woke Lucie up. She was miserable and clearly in pain. As she cried that her ear hurt, I wrapped her up in her robe and took her out to the car. Strapped in, I covered her with a blanket.
By the time we saw the doctor at 11 a.m., Lucie had developed a fever and a sore throat. She screamed as the nurse practitioner looked into her ear and later cried when the doctor looked at her throat. My poor baby. We quickly got her an antibiotic prescription and took off for the supermarket pharmacy.
It's amazing how a nap and a couple of doses of medicine can do the trick. By that evening, she was almost back to normal, fighting with her brother, and asking for popsicles and mac and cheese for dinner.
Me? I worked that afternoon while she napped, trying to catch up on various assignments. By that evening, I was glad that both kids passed out before 9 p.m. because I was the one who needed to get some sleep.
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