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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Aug 12 2008
Night time routines
This week, Paul is gone and I've come home late from a meeting, a home show, and a networking party. Walking in the door between 9 and 10 p.m., I'm not surprised to find Lucie still awake. Not only is she up, but she's running around or sticking her head in the fridge telling us she's hungry and wants a snack.
Nana has a tough time getting her to go to sleep. But then so does daddy and our babysitters. Seems only mama can do it.
After Nana and I shut down the house for the night, we head upstairs. Usually, Nathan's passed out in my bed or on the couch. (Hopefully Nana reminded him to change into his pajamas so I don't have to struggle getting my semi-conscious son into his PJs.) I pick him up, take him to his bed, and tuck him in. Then I gather up Lucie's bath time toiletries and meet her in my room.
Even if she's already dressed for bed, she'll strip down wanting to take an oatmeal bath. She says the oatmeal makes her eczema feel better, but I know that it gets her ready to go to bed. She likes pouring the oatmeal in the tub as I run the water and add the bubble bath. She climbs in as I get ready for bed. With the heat, I'm pretty hot and sweaty, so I usually join her in our oversized tub. It's very relaxing, especially if I'm still hyper from presenting at a home show or meeting.
Cooled down and toweled off, we perform our individual nighttime rituals. Mine are a facial moisturizer, lip treatment, and eye cream. Hers are powder, diaper, and eczema cream. We both brush our teeth, then climb into my bed to read a story or two.
Finally, I carry her to her own bed along with her book, blanket and sippy cup. Sometimes she's already asleep, but she's fine going to bed if she's awake, too. I tuck her in with a kiss, hug and a "Good night, I love you. See you in the morning." She replies, "Night, mommy," as I shut her bedroom door. It's moments like this that I'm glad she's here and we have the chance to spend this special time together.
Jul 30 2008
Insomnia
Friends wonder how I get everything done -- my writing gigs and blogs, the massive amount of volunteer work I do, the charter school, my mom's club, and the usual daily mama stuff of running a household, getting errands done, and taking my kids to playgroups, school and activities. I find time to read books, cook dinner from scratch, and keep up with the laundry, too.
Well, I'm very organized and work quickly. Yet, I have one big secret to success --insomnia. There's nothing like waking up at 3 a.m., booting up my laptop, and getting some tasks done. By the time the kids are awake (and since Nathan's an early riser that means 6 a.m.) I've been able to plan the week's menus and shopping list, or write up a couple of blog posts, or maybe finish reading a book or a couple of magazines. There's nothing like a few hours of uninterrupted quiet to get things done.
But these days that's becoming rare. Occasionally Nathan will come downstairs at 4 or 5 a.m. and interrupt my muse. Still, I'm able to quickly march him back upstairs, persuading him to go back to bed and get some sleep because he has school in the morning.
But today, as I closed my bedroom door dressed in my slippers and robe, armed with my iPod, book and glasses, I heard a little voice coming from the living room, "Hi mommy. I'm down here! I'm hungry." At 4:30 a.m., I found Lucie lying on the couch in the dark holding her blankie. According to her, she had been down there awhile and was waiting for me to come down and feed her.
After setting her up on the couch with food, blankets and the TV turned down low (thank goodness for PBS Kids Sprout which is on 24/7) I went into the kitchen to make a mug of tea. A few minutes later, Lucie wandered in requesting juice and water, and complaining that her arm hurt. Thinking that "sleeping funny" on her arm may have woken her up in the first place, I grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer and got Lucie settled back down on the couch.
I started to write, but was interrupted by Lucie freaking out over spilling peach yogurt on her pajama top. Grabbing a dish towel, I cleaned up the minor mess, and got her resituated with blankets, sippy cups, yogurt, and pillows.
The interruptions kept coming -- her PJ bottoms were falling down, she was done with the yogurt, the pillow was wet, and so on. What was the point having productive insomnia when I kept getting interrupted? It might as well have been the middle of the day for all the work I was getting done.
Still, it was fun being awake with Lucie in the wee hours of the morning. There's something magical about hearing the birds singing as the sun comes up. I was fascinated how they kept tune with the Sesame Street theme song coming from the TV, too. Sunny day, indeed.
Jul 25 2008
Return of the king
From the kitchen, we hear the bedroom door open. "Woo hoo, daddy's up!" yells Nathan as he charges up the stairs to greet his father.
"Daddy's awake! My daddy's awake!" screams Lucie as she runs after her brother.
I'm amazed at the pandemonium generated by Paul as he leaves our bedroom. After eight days away on a business trip, his arrival at the breakfast table is treated like a visit from a rock star. Knowing that it'll be business as usual tomorrow, I just hope that he's soaking up his children's adulation. (He is.)
Me, I'm just glad that I'm not the subject of all the noise and screaming. It's way too early in the morning for that sort of thing.
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