SAHM Week 1 update

So here are some random thoughts and impressions on my first week of being a SAHM:

1. My back and other assorted body parts are killing me. I have the same kind of body aches you get with the flu, without the other assorted nastiness. I guess hauling 70-plus lbs. of boy + boy + car seat around will do that to you. It's going to take me a couple more weeks, I think, to build up the necessary muscle power to get over it. I guess that's what I get for marring a man who's 6-foot-6.

2. Wilder needs outlets. Good God, this kid has energy. Like, ENERGY. Times 10. Times a trillion. Yoga yesterday was great, but before that we danced like maniacs to the Run Lola Run soundtrack (Hunter too), and afterward we had a bike-riding lesson followed by soccer and wrestling in the front yard, and he was still out of his mind with energy afterward. It would take me probably 12 Red Bulls to work up to half that level. On a side note, Wilder was apparently put in time out during yoga. Just once, and he told me about it -- not the teacher -- so I'm still not sure exactly what he did. But on some level I believe only my son could be put in time-out during exercises that are actually supposed to make him more serene.

3. Hunter is an undescribabely sweet baby. I mean, I knew this, on some level. I certainly knew before this new phase in our lives that he's an easy baby, that's for sure. But between the amount I was working and the amount of attention that Wilder requires (see No. 2), I just didn't really KNOW Hunter as well as I should. Oh man, this child is so full of smiles and kisses and general mellow sweetness. Of course, there is another side, and that side mostly comes out after 5 p.m., when I am trying to cook dinner. That is when he and his brother apparently sneak into another room, smoke crack and then spend the next hour taking turns (or, more often, double-teaming me) with attempts to have my undivided attention, which inadvertently results in one of them pantsing me (I'm going to have to start wearing suspenders or overalls here soon). Anyway, that side of Hunter's personality has earned him the nickname Captain Short-Tempered Long Crack (previously he was just Cpt. Long Crack, so named for the size of his bum, which he has acquired from his mama's side of the family, poor thing).

4. I need more patience. Maybe my fellow SAHM readers can tell me ... is this something that comes with more time at home? I hope so, because I'm finding that I'm engaging in non-effective parenting techniques too frequently. After the 16th time of telling Wilder to stop squishing his brother, or stop trying to shove a plastic bowling pin down his throat, or stop carrying him around the room like that Peanuts character carries her cat, etc etc (you get the idea), I tend to snap a little bit. Don't worry, you don't need to call CPS, but I'm assuming (and hoping that I'm right on this) that patience and more effective parenting techniques will naturally form as I spend more time at home.

5. I am still not, and will likely never be, a joiner. All the parents at yoga yesterday already knew each other. I felt lucky to have Hunter with me, and gladly chased him around and played with him on the floor so I wouldn't have to engage in too much conversation, especially where it involved public vs. private school, developmental milestones, etc. I mean, honestly, I put my kid in yoga so I wouldn't have to be his human bounce house for an hour. I'd rather not discuss whether he can ride a bike without training wheels yet (lord, he can't even ride a bike yet!) or what preschool I'll be putting him in (when I get asked this, I want to cheerily answer: "I dunno ... I'll probably figure it out when he stops shitting his pants." You seriously cannot have a conversation with another parent in Dallas that doesn't at some point discuss what school you'll be putting him in. I mean, he's 3 ... am I really supposed to be plotting his course toward Harvard already?)

OK, so that last one was more of a rant than a thought. Whoops! Got off course there. Anyway, I have lots more thoughts, but I'll save those for another post. Boys up ... time to roll. xo, k.