How Tired am I and the Case of the Sprinkle Sneak

Sometimes it irks me that I am hardly blogging at all these days.  

I know that sounds whiny and complaining.  Sorry.

But writing and sharing my photos is one of my favorite things to do.  

It is my outlet, my rest, my energy and something that brings me a lot of joy.

I don't blog during the day because it takes me away from my kids and all of the work it takes to keep my house running.

But nights find me here.  After the kitchen has been cleaned up, laundry folded and the various other chores are done.  Often times Aaron does them and tells me to go write,  

I love that.

But lately, I haven't been up to blogging at night.

I haven't been up to chores.

I haven't been up to much except laying down on the couch for a "minute" while Aaron puts the kids to bed at 7::30 and I wake up hours later and stagger into bed.

It's annoying.

For a while there I was doing well at night.  I was tired, but could accomplish extra tasks, like reorganizing all my kitchen cupboards, as well as get in a few blog posts a week.

But now?

Now I am beat!

I couldn't figure it out until a friend reminded me I am in my 3rd trimester now,

How sad I didn't even know that myself.

So yeah.  The tiredness is back.  With a vengeance.

How tired am I?

Let me show you.

Today I laid down on the couch after lunch to take a nap.

There were about 500 other things that I needed to do, but I could no longer function without sleep.  

The boys were happily playing outside, making their hillbilly playhouse.

And Lilly was quietly reading books on the couch with me.

She doesn't nap much anymore.  It is too hard for her to fall asleep at night if she naps every day.

So while all my kids are awake, I take a "half nap" on the couch.

I fade in and out of consciousness, and when there are screams I get up and find out what's going on.

It's not the best, but it's all I've got.

The boys are excellent at playing quietly and non-destructively while I rest.  

I can trust them.

Lilly, however, tends to make mischief. 

She has been getting much better though; spending most of my nap time reading or playing with her stuffed animals and dolls.

Or so I thought.

As I was enjoying my light rest, I heard a strange sound.  
Kind of a quiet, pouring sound.
I sat up.
And there was Lilly, tea cup in hand and jar of sprinkles in the other, pouring herself a cup full of sprinkles.
In the middle of the living room floor.
And you know what I did?
I laid back down and closed my eyes.

How bad could a cupful of sprinkles really be?
I was too tired to care much.
The question you are probably asking yourself is, "what kind of mom has sprinkles where an unattended 2 year old can get to them anyway?"
Uhhh, yes that would be me.
I just cleaned and reorganized all my kitchen cabinets.  Back in the 2nd trimester when I had energy.
And I put all my cake and cookie decorating stuff in one bin.  
On a low shelf in the pantry.
Duh.

So Lilly found them while I lay on the couch with my eyes closed,
And I let her pour herself a cupful while I lay on the couch with my eyes closed.
And I let her eat them while I lay on the couch with my eyes closed.
And I let her scatter them all over creation while I lay on the couch with my eyes closed.
She was quiet. 
It wasn't until the brothers came in and asked in injured tones, "hey, why does Lilly get to have a whole cupful of sprinkles?" that I decided I needed to open my eyes and get back to being a parent.

That s when I saw the sprinkles had migrated out of the tea cup and all over everything else.
The thing that makes these kind of sprinkles exceptionally bad in this kind of situation is that these kind of sprinkles roll.
I am sure we will be finding sprinkles everywhere for a while.

I didn't bother getting upset though.
After all, it was my own fault.
And that nap was worth it.
And Lilly was pretty stoked with her sprinkle escapade.
She was mighty proud of that pink tongue.
I just laughed at myself, took some pictures and started sweeping.


That, friends, is how tired I am.
Please tell me I am not the only parent who sometimes takes the low road rather than the high one.


Love from,
Greta