I am on the floor of the bathroom. The door is locked and I am
playing Word Weasel on my phone. I am hiding from the 8-year old.
Despite having thousands of dollar worth of toys in her room, she is
unable to play by herself. We had fun today, playing 20 games of
Trouble (she won them all), drawing, reading, and playing at least
eight games of
Hullabaloo (the GREATEST kids' game ever invented! Find out why below.).
I'm tired. She's been needy today. Despite my begging
her to play
by herself, I'd finally had it. She worked my last nerve, so I took
refuge in the only room with a lock – the bathroom.
Moments like this used to throw me when I had only one child. I
used to retreat to the bathroom is a storm of frustration and tears,
swearing that I was THE WORST MOTHER WHO EVER LIVED. Now, after 13
years of parenting, I understand that I am normal and I am sure there
is at least one other mother going through the same thing at this
very moment.
Parenting is fun and wonderful and bittersweet, with the growing
realization that the kids will only be little once and will, someday,
not need you. Today is not the day. Diva has not been able to spend
one minute without me; she has also worn down the patience of her
father, who is in his office paying bills and is not to be disturbed.
She knows better than to pester her teenage brother who is on Skype
with his friends. So, once again, she's after me.
“Moooooommmmmmy!” The wail comes from downstairs. My
daughter is neither sick nor hurt. She is frustrated because I am
not at her beck and call. The sound comes closer and closer (cue in
the suspenseful horror movie music). I sigh; my peace is about to
come to an end. “Mommy! Come out here!” she demands. I tell
her no, Mom is in a time-out. “I need my space,” I tell her.
Predictably, this is not received well. She's now yelling and
banging on the door. The tantrum escalates. I hold my ground. I am
NOT coming out.
Suddenly it gets quiet. I'm not worried. As I said, there are
two other people in this house so if there really was a problem, she
could easily go to them. A slip of paper touches my foot. “You
are mean,” it says. Well, at least she's in touch with her
feelings. “Write on it,” she demands. I will not engage. I
hear her outside the door, scribbling on paper she has pilfered from
Daddy's office. More paper comes under the door. I am expecting
more declarations of anger, perhaps even an “I hate you” note.
Instead, the paper reads, “I really, really, really, really” with
an arrow indicating that I should flip the paper to the other side;
the flip side reads “really, really love you.”
I know she does. I'm filled with happiness because she knows,
without a doubt, that I love her, too. We've played this scenario
out many times and I've reiterated that Mommy loves her; Mommy just
needs time to herself. My daughter does not take it personally. She
continues to scribble love notes to me, while I breathe and play my
game by myself. In a moment, I'll come out. My self-imposed time
out will be over and we'll go on to paint with water colors and get
ready for school tomorrow.
Another Mommy Storm passes. I unlock the bathroom door, smile at
my beautiful daughter who hugs me, and take her hand. The refugee is
out and I know that I am indeed, just another, normal mom.
–
I mentioned the game
Hullabaloo. I bought the game years ago,
when my son was in preschool and am convinced, as I said above, that
it's THE GREATEST GAME EVER INVENTED FOR LITTLE KIDS! It's so simple
that they can play it on their own, with friends of all ages. The
game consists of different colored and shaped pads you place on the
floor and a main “console” with one button that plays clear-cut
instructions. Basically, you go from pad to pad; sometimes you dance
on the pad, other times you contort into Twister-like positions or
pretend you're playing a musical instrument, etc. The unit goes off
if the kids haven't played it in a while. I used to carry it in my
car because if the kids ever got bored at a relative's house or were
on a playdate that they didn't get along with, I could whip it out.
The game can be played indoors or out and I've even used it at
parties. Today I found it in the closet and Diva, her
teenage-brother, and I played it for at least an hour.
Listen up: if you have kids 9 or younger (preschool age), you
MUST GET THIS GAME! It will save your sanity – trust me!
