Yesterday was one of the worst days I have had in a long time. Cooper was having major gas issues from something I ate, and he cried almost all day. I got a 10 minute break here and there, but he fussed almost non-stop. Even when I held him, he was still fussy. When I tried to put him down, he would have a full-blown meltdown within 5 minutes. Now, for the "just let him cry it out" people, no, I can't just let him sit there and cry. First of all, you're not supposed to let a baby under 6 months cry it out. Also, as a mother, you simply can't block out the crying of your child. I read about a study that showed that a baby crying had a major physiological affect on its mother. It raised her heart rate, blood pressure, and severely limited her ability to focus on a task. But any mother who has had a small child doesn't need a study to tell them that, right?
Anyway, I tried to make a trip to CVS and I thought he would be ok because the car ride put him to sleep. Well, his carrier barely fit on the tiny buggy and Gracie had to walk beside it holding on because there wasn't enough room for her to sit in it. Gracie was good, but I was paranoid about her walking off. In the middle of the store, Cooper woke up and started screaming. I made my way to the register and pulled out my coupons, at which point Gracie started walking towards the door. I ran and grabbed her and went back to my screaming baby. In the meantime, the teenager behind the register looked at Cooper and said, "Awwwww, how cute." Yes, I appreciate your attempt to be nice, but just ring up my stuff please and let me get out of here.
So, we get back in the car and head home. At this point it is around 3:00 and I still hadn't eaten lunch or had a shower. I finally was able to eat something with one hand while holding Cooper in the other. I put Gracie down for a nap and made my grocery list, because of course, we had nothing for supper. I was going to have to go to the grocery store. I was planning on waiting until John came home, so that I wouldn't have to deal with the kids at the store. However, it soon hit me that John was going to work late to earn some extra money. If I wanted to have anything for supper, I was going to have to take Gracie and Cooper to the store.
Cooper finally went to sleep and I was able to put him in the swing. Yes!!! I got Gracie up from her nap and
she started crying. I guess I got her up too soon, but I knew that if we wanted to eat before midnight, we had to get ready to go to the store. Well, her crying woke Cooper up, and I had 2 crying children. Gracie kept going on and on about how she wanted cottage cheese (which of course, we had none - hence the trip to the store).
I finally stuck both of them in the car and headed out, praying that the ride to the store would be enough to put Cooper back to sleep. It was, but I had a feeling that my luck wouldn't last. I brought my back-pack baby carrier into the store with me just in case - I can put him in that thing and he will stop crying.
Now, Ingles has these shopping carts with cars on the front for toddlers that I have a very strong love-hate relationship with. Yes, Gracie loves riding in the car through the store, and it does keep her occupied. However, the carts are hard to push, hard to turn, and they are so long that even Jeff Gordon would have a hard time moving in and out of the aisles with any kind of ease. Also, when you add the baby carrier on top, you can't see the front of the cart. Don't even think about turning around in the middle of an aisle with that thing, either. If you miss something, you have to do the backwards walk with the cart to pick up what you passed.
Anyway, I put the kids in that monstrosity of a shopping cart and headed to the fruit and veggie section. My luck held out until I got to the baking aisle, at which point Cooper began crying. I promptly did the backwards walk down the aisle, went to the bathroom, and put him in my back-pack carrier. That was enough to calm him down, thank goodness. I was able to finally finish my shopping trip, and I will say that Gracie was really good the whole time.
So, I got home and started unloading the groceries. Cooper woke up and was hungry, so he started crying. I rushed to put up the refrigerated stuff before I fed him, and then Gracie started asking for supper because, poor thing, it ended up being 8:00 before I got home!! I quickly fixed Gracie some stuff (including her beloved cottage cheese), while Cooper continued to cry.
At this point, John was still not home. He was only going to work until about 7:00, but he and Wade ran into a problem in 2 of the labs. I had finished feeding Cooper, and I finally decided to get up and fix myself some supper. Of course, the whole time I fixed myself something, Cooper was screaming. John finally called me around 9:00 to tell me he was heading home. I broke down. Cooper was still crying and I decided to join him. I was sobbing to John on the phone that I couldn't handle another day like this. What man, after working 14 hours, wouldn't want to come home to a hysterical wife? (Yes, I am nominated for wife and mother of the year.)
At this point, Gracie climbed up beside me and was saying, "Momma, what's wrong? Momma's sad. It's alright. Momma, what's wrong?" Ok, now add guilt to my list of emotions. My toddler should not have to try to comfort me because I lost my cool. Anyway, John got home around 9:30 and Cooper promptly stopped crying and was an angel; of course, this was part of his master plan to discredit me as a mother. ;-)
Anyway, Cooper didn't go to sleep until 11:30. He got up at 1:00, 3:30, and 7:15 to eat. So much for getting a good nights sleep. So, how do I have the time to type all of this? I am sitting here feeding Cooper and typing with one hand. I have still not had a shower and the groceries are still sitting in bags in the floor. Did I mention that I also have a kitchen that is a mess and 5 baskets of laundry sitting in the hallway waiting to be folded?
I am very blessed, and I love my kids...but man, some days just wear you down! Hopefully today will be better.
