Know When To Fold ‘Em

I have limits.  I know this.  And when I’m too exhausted to go on, I typically fall into my bed and crawl under the covers to snuggle with my pillow, despite the hour.  Unless, of course, my sweet little one is preventing that.  Then I push on and just deal with it.  “Suck it up and deal with it,” as some of my 7th grade coach-teachers taught me.  Her limits, however, well… when she hits that wall, it’s time to go – from wherever we are and whatever we are doing, and just get her some sleep.

Yesterday was no exception.  We had a fabulous day planned, but Saturday night, a new variable entered the scene.  A tooth.  FINALLY!  Her first molar to break through entered the world around 7:45 Saturday night.  (Tooth number 9 if you’re keeping track.)  Sending her into a whirlwind of pain and exhaustion.  So, we changed the Sunday plan.  Becca wouldn’t be attending her first tubing trip- she’d be hanging out at the clubhouse pool and taking a nap in the clubhouse instead.  Except she had plans of her own.

Nap?  HA!

This girl is a FISH.  She LOVED kicking her legs, floating along, walking along the ledge hanging on to the side, and jumping in.  Yup.  She really knows how to make a splash!  We had SOOOO much fun!!!!!  I’m not sure how many hours she spent in the pool, but it was way more than planned after she decided to give everyone a headache and scream through her naptime.  I decided that a nice swim would wear her out!  HA!  We made it to dinner time and still no nap.  And that’s when the fits began.

She wanted to walk around while eating.  Now, remember – I still haven’t made a post with the fabulous news that she’s now totally independent and walking on her own… because she isn’t.  So, she’s wanting to walk, with food all over her hands and food in her mouth, hanging on to the couch of this clubhouse we’re renting out…. yeah, not a good plan.  After she tripped and went down with a mouth full of food, mean mommy instated a rule of you-sit-in-my-lap-to-eat-or-else-you-don’t-eat.  Yeah, that went over like a lead balloon.  Sigh.  The result found Cody and I both cleaning yogurt out of the clubhouse carpet from the food slinging.

Bless his heart, enter Daddy to the rescue!  We got her cleaned up together, and he took her for a walk down to the river so that I could eat and start packing our stuff.  Because despite the fact that everyone else would be visiting for hours, as a parent the number one cardinal rule is – know when to fold ’em.  When it’s time to go, it’s time to go.  No matter what YOU personally want.  We got packed up and hit the road, and within three minutes of being in the car, she was knocked out.  Whew.  Finally.  She slept most of the way home (abt 45 mins of sleep), and then when we got home, we did her normal nighttime routine, and she was out fairly quickly – around 8:00.  Not too far off schedule!

Whew.  One of these days, I’ll have this mom thing down to an art… as for now, I feel pretty much like a gambler.  I place my bets, based on what I want to do and what I think is possible, and then I take hold of the hand I’ve been dealt.  Thankfully, I’ve got a really good partner standing behind the dealer to help me know when it’s time – time to fold ’em and take what I’ve got and run.  I can’t imagine doing this by myself.  Teamwork folks, it’s all about teamwork.  Teamwork, and having the most supportive husband God’s ever created.  Somehow, together, we’ll get through these “terrible twos” that have already hit.  And, in the process, we might get better at our gambling, too!  HA!

You’d never guess that this sweet sleeper was a holy terror at times, would you?
Sigh.  I love this girl so much.  Even when she makes me want to pull my hair out!