I am a juggler in the figurative sense. I have three kids. I try to juggle my time so that they each get what they need from me. Being a single mom, I won't pretend that I am good at it, or that all three of my children are super well balanced. It does seem that whenever there is an issue with one of them, just as I think I have things under control, something happens with a sibling and of course I don't want any of them to fall on the floor so I find myself scrambling again. Tonight was an exception.
This week is March Break for the kids. The boys both begged me over a month ago to sign them up for a certain day camp, which I was only happy to do because it coincidentally was one of the cheaper ones at only ten dollars a day. They were really looking forward to going and I am happy to report that they had a great day. I stayed at home with my eleven-year-old daughter so we could have some time alone without the boys demanding my attention. (Usually the demand comes in the form of a fight between them and I end up wondering if I should just let them go at it and settle things once and for all, but of course good judgement prevails and I have to separate them and then we talk about it. Hopefully. Sometimes the boys refuse to talk, and especially to hear, so the discussion is better left for later.) Back to today: we had a pretty simple day that just flew by. We went to the library, did groceries, made meatballs... I think our major achievement was cleaning Daughter's desk out. There were workbooks in there from grade two!
At four o'clock we went to get the boys from daycamp. My second son, who is six, has a history of not adjusting too well to changes, so I was especially interested in how his day went and how he felt. Luckily, he is bigger now (older and wiser than last summer and especially the summer before, when he was sent home for fighting) and he had a great day. I did give him a lot of attention, though, just to be 100% sure nothing bad happened, like someone wouldn't leave him alone and he hit them or something. (It has been known to happen...) Daughter was okay with me asking Second Son about his day and when we got home she disappeared to her room for a little alone time... with her computer... that's a whole other can of worms...
So we had a nice evening. Daughter went upstairs, I took Second Son outside to play. First Son was forbidden to come because he refused to put snow-pants on. Supper went pretty well. We were all at the table which is a definite victory. Then we played some Rush Hour with the boys and they showered and went to bed.
So I was in bed reading before going to sleep and who should be standing beside my bed but Second Son, saying he can't sleep and asking if he can sit with me a while and tell me about his day. He was very smooth in expressing this, by the way. I was thoroughly impressed. So of course I said yes and he proceeded to sit on my bed cross-legged and tell me about his day. Every detail of his day, with especial attention being paid to how the soccer ball bounced when he kicked it so that it somehow finally found its way into the goal and how everyone wanted him on his team because he is the best. :D I permit myself a small chuckle here because of course I had to keep a straight face and look impressed during this. First Son has VERY GOOD self-esteem. :o)
So the lesson I learned today, and this time it thankfully wasn't a painful one, (and I can't believe it took me six paragraphs to get to this point!) is that just when you lean back and think everything is just peachy and you deserve a little something, THAT is when you should first take a moment and think WHY everything seems peachy and THEN make sure that the jam is spread evenly among however many children you may have. 'Cause I thought I had a pretty good day with Daughter and I was relieved that Second Son seemed to settle well into daycamp for the week, but poor (patient!) First Son waited and waited for me to ask him about his day and when he realized I was showing off juggling with only two balls, he took the initiative and quickly threw himself into the routine before I left the stage. So remember, parents: Vigilance! Constant vigilance! (Watch yourselves!)
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