12/6/06 Single Mom

I've done three nights now of putting the boys to bed with Katrina around, and I do say we're developing a rhythm. And tonight was the worst night yet!

But it still wasn't bad. The boys had dinner early again, by 6pm, and have now gotten used to me telling them stories and explaining things to them during dinner. I don't usually do that when Dave's there, since I want to talk to Dave. Gabriel even asked me before dinner tonight, "what story are you going to tell us tonight, Mom?"

(This supports a dynamic I've observed empirically: the boys often act up more around Dave. They act up evenly to both of us, but it's more likely when Dave is there. So many times they've been really good all day, then fall apart as soon as Dave gets home from work. That could be due to other factors, such as a later dinner, but I've noticed it at other times too. I wonder what that's about. I don't think it's about sharing my attention; I think it's more about testing Dave since they perceive him as being the stronger parent -- even though I'm the target of their antics just as much.)

Katrina was awake and crying on and off during the bed-bath process tonight. I was able to hold her for some of it, get her calm in the bassinet for some of it, and just had to let her cry for things that absolutely required two hands.

The most stressful time if she's crying is storytime; I like to read the boys a book without being rushed or stressed. Tonight she needed attention during book-reading, and I had to interrupt it once, but I managed to read the boys a book during a somewhat calm 10 minutes.

No photos today, since most of what I did today was boring grownup tasks, between baby care, errands, little-boy pickups. I did get a few moments talking and praising Gabriel for his "hard work" with his Lite-Brite cube, and actually enjoyed listening to them run like mad while I was nursing Katrina, even though I'm always braced to hear a crash followed by crying.

Yesterday, the boys right before the bed-bath process. Not easy getting them corralled, but somehow I managed without it all turning into a fight. Phew.


A final note: I was very sad to see on CNN that James Kim was found in the Oregon wilderness...dead, probably of exposure.

I've been following the story of a San Francisco family that got stranded on a National Forest road (Bear Camp 23) in Oregon. The family stayed together in their car for 6 days, then the husband set out to find help. 9 days into the ordeal, the mother and two girls, ages 4 and 7 months, were found alive in their car. The mother kept the kids alive by nursing both of them, incredibly. An intense search was started for the father, ending in tragedy today.

It really strikes home for me because of course I too have very young children. But also, NF roads like Bear Camp are ones Dave and I frequented on motorcycles (though this one appeared paved), and would be very inclined to take in our car -- with our children. Could we have found ourselves in the same situation? It's chilling. My heart goes out to the Kim family.

12/6/06