The trifecta

Every once in a great while, I achieve mommy nirvana.  What is that, you ask?

Getting 20 uninterrupted minutes in the shower?

Nope.

Washing, drying, folding and putting away ALL the laundry before another piece of dirty clothing finds its way into a hamper?

Nice, but no.

Having dinner ready, the house cleaned, the children (and you) dressed, the dog walked and fed all by the time your husband comes home from work?

Bahahahahahahaha!

No, my mommy nirvana is something a little more selfish and involves getting all three children down for a nap AT THE SAME TIME.  Quite a feat considering Elise hasn't napped since she was 2.

But every so often all the stars align and age of Aquarius is dawning, and all three minions will head off to the land of nod simultaneously.  And it. Is. Glorious.  Angels we have heard on high and amen!

Usually when this happens, I find myself sitting on the sofa staring at my hands as if they were magic.  Then one of the wee ones wakes up and it's back to reality.

The other day was unfolding to be such a day.  And I was excited.  I hadn't stared at my hands in a good long while.  It had all the signs; Mattias asking for a nap.  Elise wanting to rest so she could stay up late to make an airport run to pick up her avo and avó (grandpa and grandma in Portuguese).

And lovely Lucas; primed and ready for a feeding and a snooze.  I had the older ones sleeping and Lucas was nursing.  Towards he end he fell asleep, and just as I put him down, his eyes popped open and he said, "hey Mama... let's party!"

Okay, HE didn't say that, but his face did.  Resigned to the fact that my hands were not going to get stared at, I brought him downstairs.  Then something funny happened.

I got to spend time with him, and just him.  Something that never happens.  Usually he is relegated to his bouncy chair or pack and play, largely ignored while I deal with the mischief of the other two.  He's pretty happy to do so, Lucas is a very easy baby who just goes with the flow.  But I often feel like he gets the leftovers of my attention, and most of the times it's just crumbs.

So we snuggled.  And chatted.  He smiled and batted his eyelashes at me.  We had ourselves a kitchen dance party.  And there were kisses... lots of kisses (okay, he licked my cheek and tried to suck on my chin, but it counts!).

And it was wonderful.  Better than staring at my hands.  While the nap trifecta is pretty cool, getting to spend a few hours with this little guy is so much better.

Six!

My new strategy

Fred is out of town for the next few days. And my offspring have been driving me nuts lately, so my thought was as follows:

• Get the crazy minions out of the house so they won't mess it up.
• Have lots of fun so they fight less.
• All this exersice will make them tired at the end of the day and I'll want to smother them less. 

Outing #1: local park

He doesn't look impressed, but he was having fun

 

My three high-flyers

Da boys

I am unsure of this swinging business
 

Outing #2: Picnic lunch at another local park and spray ground

Spray ground cutie

My skinny little chicken

He couldn't play, but was all smiles anyway

Me and my drooly littlest man

I told you he was a skinny chicken.  For the record, those are 18m swim shorts. And he's trying to pull them up, not down

Outing #3: Dinner at a local grocery store (that has a resturant and playground). Ice cream for dessert


I really don't know. This was the pose they decided on

Outing #3 included an emergency diaper change for Mattias in the middle of eating ice cream. It was truely gross and I felt bad for the other diners in our vicinity. Thank goodness for friends that just happen to walk by when you need them.  And for employees who don't stand up to you when you barge your way in even after they tell you the bathroom is closed for cleaning for the next 10 minutes.  I think the poor man could smell us coming.

All in all the mission was a success... all three children slept soundly through the night (something we've been having issues with all three of them lately), and were in a great mood this morning.  And I want to smother them a little less.

Everybody wins!