This summer Shaun’s little sister and soon-to-be husband moved out to the town we live in. They have a 5 year old girl who use to be in day care during the day, but would be starting school this year.
They checked on prices for before and after school programs and the prices were just crazy. I offered to watch her before and after school since I was lucky enough to be home anyway.
I’m sort of a creature of habit. I do the same things every day and change sort of freaks me out. Because I had so much help when I needed it, this was my way of putting that good Karma and ‘pay if forward’ stuff out there.
Last year my kids figured out how to get up, get dressed and make my life easier in the morning. It was the first year I that I didn’t feel like I was going to run my kids over in the car once they hit the crosswalk to go to school. Last year was good, and this year was going to be a walk in the park. Then I signed up for Jess. She’s a redheaded firecracker.
Some of you remember, I mentioned in passing, that I had been involved in a hit and run. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it and freak people out…but it totally trashed the back of my minivan and I couldn’t drive it anymore because it broke the brake light that coudn’t be put back because of the structural damage…and I looked ghetto. REAL GHETTO.
You wouldn’t think that would be a big deal if you had any idea of the many different ghetto cars my mother was forced to shove us kids in, but it bothered me.
I finally decided to take it in to find out how much it would cost to fix. FIVE GRAND to fix it. I don’t have 5 grand. We took my van in to CarMax and they gave me a great price so I bought a Ford Windstar…and then brought it back the next day because IT SUCKED. I am now in a minivan that looks JUST like the old one I had, except it’s a ’01 and it has power everything. I love it. It’s better than the newer one I had. It fits all the kids and Jess. Yet it brings me back to ‘creature of habit’.
There is a huge, huge, huge age gap between 5 and 8. It’s only a few years, but I had forgotten how much attention a 5 year old needs.
Every morning Jess gets here and we take Shea and Alyx to school and then come home, crawl back into bed and watch “Dora” and “Blue’s Clues”. (I can sing the ‘mail song’ PERFECTLY)
The strange part about my starting over, is it is EXACTLY what I needed. It forces me to get out of the house in the middle of the day to drop off this little brat and get back out and pick her up. It forces me to change my morning schedule of CNN to Nick (please tell me if something important is going on in the world, because I don’t get to watch ANY news anymore!!)
It wasn’t the best time for me to restart being a ‘little kid mom’ again, because of the meds…but it’s good.
Now, I just want to say…for all you parents with 5 year olds and you’re like, “Oh man…I feel it.” Just know that in a couple years, it gets easier and just enjoy this time because even as painful as it is to have to hang outside the classroom and listen to little kid conversations, mingle with other parents that are snooty & watching cartoons instead of news. It goes by fast.
I’m lucky enough to get to do this all over again without more stretch marks, labor and changing diapers…and those horrible years before you get to 5.
19 responses to “It feels like i’m starting all over again…”
You get to parent a 5 year old AND teenagers! You are a very very strong woman. Good luck!!
yes, I took on ANOTHER kid…making my total of SIX kids all day
She is ADORABLE (and looks like a handful!)
Hmmm…Audrey at 5 was definitely easier than Audrey at 2…but Aislinn at 2 (well, getting there) is easier than Audrey at 5. Kids are just so different! And who knows what I’ll end up with this time. A wild card…
She looks like a little imp. Enjoy!
i watched five kids in MN when i was an aupair and it was a great time. i miss “blues clues” actually. i think i had a tiny crush on steven [mainly because he’d keep the kids busy for a while] :)
your kids get up for school?
WTF?
I still have to drag the 14 and 16 year olds outta bed fifteen THOUSAND times before they actually get up.
then the 3 year old..
and myself..
and daycare is RIDICULOUS. believe me.
here is where I go “WHAT PISSY?” and I bitch her out for having to get her TEENAGERS up out of bed for school….
but then I remember my poor mother having to do the same for me!!
Yes, Tyler is up first. He then goes in and tells Alyx and Shea to get up. They get up, get dressed and feed themselves. Marina then gets up and then bitches and nags at Kara for the next 30 minutes until she gets up.
she’s freakin’ cute – – that kind of thing always works in their favor… ya know, some cuteness factor, in helping one deal with that time that must pass before you no longer have to repeat everything 10 times… just 5 times…?
Kristine, I see your 5 year old and raise you 12 more 5 year olds. I’m teaching Kindergarten for the first time this year. I’ll tell you what helps. Jack Daniels. And Xanax. Not together though. That’s bad. Good luck with the kiddo–she’ll keep you young!
You are a brave woman.
Brave or crazy.
1. What a sweetie-face!
2. Congrats on the new van :)
3. I love your boobs.
4. Don’t make me steal your xanax.
you are really brave to go “backwards” as i call it.
i tried going backwards. but just like i went insane with my last baby, (tse) i started to insane with the baby i was babysitting.
so no more babysitting.
did i say you were brave?
oh ya, know all about the meds issues. i was on lithium for awhile, and not only do you feel nothing, your personality ceases to exist and the person formerly known as you is obliterated by apathy and lethargy. basically, it sucks.
and to think that some people out there think that medication is an easy way out. ha! it takes bravery and perserverance to not only say you need help but survive being a human guinea pig in the process of finding something that will help you.
i don’t know if you have time or care but share bits of my mental health journey off and on. i did yesterday as well.
take care!
She looks like hell-on-wheels. Adorable, but still hell-on-wheels at the same time.
How did you train your kids to wake themselves up? Bribery, threats, large sums of money??? I have to threaten to sing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” from Oklahoma to get my 13 year old out of bed each morning. It works- my singing sucks!
What a fun and scary change!
Such a cutie ! I kinds miss the age of 5. I know I am crazy & all .
The other good news is, you can send her home at the end of the day! :)
Rest assured, you will be afforded a prime space in Nikon Heaven. All the cameras and lenses your heart desires.
It’s interesting -‘your’ Jess sounds exactly like min but with a few years in between.
Aw she looks adorable. But you are brave.
She’ll probably latch on to your girls when they are home from school and start to really look up to them.
No I would not go back. I’m actually enjoying moving forward and enjoying these little kid free years before grand kids start to come. My oldest is 26 and youngest is 16. I just enjoy other peoples kids now and in small doses. hee
She looks so sweet – but as a momma of a 3 and 6 year old – I have to admit you are one brave woman – very very brave.