Mommy I love you!

Hearing those four words from your child are so magical. At least I think they must be. My three year old has never said it before. She does show affection. She loves hugs, and is warming up to kisses...giving them that is. She loves to receive them. But the words I love you are just so powerful to me.

After I read an article in parenting magazine I found out maybe she is saying it without using words. I think the article talks about 8 ways babies show love. Well my daughter is not a baby, but she still shows some of these signs.

But one surprised me a little. It basically says when they act out, they are saying I love you. Check it out at http://www.parenting.com/gallery/Baby/8-Ways-Your-Baby-Says-I-Love-You/9/ But I guess it does make sense. My daughter pretends to bite me at times. This is a behavior that is reserved just for me. She also likes to kick a little harder than she should too. I guess the logic behind all this is, they love you and trust you, so they try out bad behavior on you because they know you won't desert them. I guess that is why the baby-sitter says, "Oh the kids were angels! They went to bed on time and gave me no trouble." I always wonder, why doesn't it work that way when I am putting them to bed? Maybe she loves me so much? Maybe, but I wish she would just say, "Mommy, I love you."

Sickly Mama

I am a sickly Mama. Being sick as a mom is really different than being sick before parenthood. I remember the days of illness before the kids came along. I could lie around the house, almost enjoying the day of watching endless episodes of Trading Spaces or whatever marathon happened to be playing on TV. It was the ultimate excuse to be lazy and just rest. I miss that. Now with two kids in the picture, even if I stay home from work to recuperate, there is no complete rest for the weary. There are still baths to be given, books to read, lunches to make and all the tasks that kids require that just can't be put off for illness.

Illness used to be a great excuse to jump off the train of life for a few days without really missing much. Now if I jump off the train, it will run me over! As I post this I am surrounded by Kleenex and huddled under the covers trying to re-live those few moments of restfulness now that the kids are asleep.

I should really just be thankful they are not sick too. The only thing worse than a sick kid who can't sleep because of a stuffy nose is when you can breath only slightly better than them because you are sitting up holding the kid with the stuffy nose because that is the only way they can sleep. Of course you are not sleeping, but that is motherhood. Now that I have two children, I wonder what happens when they are equally sick at the same time? I am sure that day will come and it will have its own set of issues requiring a blog post of its own.

I love my children dearly, but this is one of those things that doesn't come in a the manual of things to really enjoy before you reproduce. Sleep is the other, but that is another blog for another day.