I was going through an area of drawing/craft/creativity explosion in the girls' room to see what was worth keeping, and I came across a pile of papers on Magdalena's nightstand. As I looked through them, tears came to my eyes. And even though they aren't the finest examples of her artistical (as she calls it) ability, I will definitely be keeping them. Here's why.
Sterling is a pretty colicky baby, which just means that he cries a lot, especially in the evening. He cries if you hold him. He cries harder if you put him down. He cries even if you nurse him, or swaddle him, or put him in the football hold, or any of the other tricks you are going to tell me to try. We've tried it. He's slowly growing out of it, but for the first 6 weeks of his life, bedtime for the girls was (and still is, occasionally) a very non-peaceful occasion around here. Usually, it consists of me saying to the girls, "get ready for bed. Then go to bed. When he finally gives up crying and goes to sleep, I will come read to you/snuggle you/say good night. If you are still awake, that is." Then I go wrangle my armful of screaming baby and leave the girls all by their lonesomes. So sad.
But actually, this works out pretty well for Miriam. She just picks up her book and reads. But Majd isn't much of a solo silent reader yet. So on those evenings, she would grab some colors or a pencil and draw. That's the stack of papers I came across. The drawings of a forlorn little 5-year-old whose mama can't tuck her into bed just yet.
A Marauder's Map scribbled on an envelope. I guess this one only works for Ginny?
A map of the bedroom.
Fanciful creatures (she loves those), including the lady from The Piano Guys' Don't You Worry Child video.
Our family. I'm the one on the far right, and that's Sterling in the wrap on my tummy.
More fanciful creatures.
There were lots more drawings that I'm not including here. So many drawings, representing the long periods of time I have to spend tending to Sterling in the evenings while the girls take care of themselves. I love these drawings, even as they make me sad. They represent a youngest child displaced, set loose from her familiar orbit and embarking on a new one that neither she nor I have figured out yet. Here's hoping we get it together soon, so that pile of papers can stop growing.
Sterling is a pretty colicky baby, which just means that he cries a lot, especially in the evening. He cries if you hold him. He cries harder if you put him down. He cries even if you nurse him, or swaddle him, or put him in the football hold, or any of the other tricks you are going to tell me to try. We've tried it. He's slowly growing out of it, but for the first 6 weeks of his life, bedtime for the girls was (and still is, occasionally) a very non-peaceful occasion around here. Usually, it consists of me saying to the girls, "get ready for bed. Then go to bed. When he finally gives up crying and goes to sleep, I will come read to you/snuggle you/say good night. If you are still awake, that is." Then I go wrangle my armful of screaming baby and leave the girls all by their lonesomes. So sad.
But actually, this works out pretty well for Miriam. She just picks up her book and reads. But Majd isn't much of a solo silent reader yet. So on those evenings, she would grab some colors or a pencil and draw. That's the stack of papers I came across. The drawings of a forlorn little 5-year-old whose mama can't tuck her into bed just yet.
There were lots more drawings that I'm not including here. So many drawings, representing the long periods of time I have to spend tending to Sterling in the evenings while the girls take care of themselves. I love these drawings, even as they make me sad. They represent a youngest child displaced, set loose from her familiar orbit and embarking on a new one that neither she nor I have figured out yet. Here's hoping we get it together soon, so that pile of papers can stop growing.