Morning Shuffle

I can’t believe it, but Doms 2nd birthday is only 4 months away. Every day he is testing his boundaries more and more, and I see his little defiant streak peeking out. As much as I love that he is experiencing his independence right now, it can be totally exhausting and stressful. The mornings are usually a whirlwind of chaos that leaves me ready for a nap before I’ve even left the house.

Most week days, Rob is up at 4:00am to get ready for his first job that he drives to Torrance for. Yes, I said 4:00am. And yes, I said his first job. Let me share with you the awesomeness that is my boyfriend for a second. Not only does he get up at 4am, drive to Torrance, work his ass off for about 4-5 hours while most of us are still sleeping, but then he leaves there, drives to Irvine and begins his day all over again at his second job. There he works just as hard, hanging from ceilings, pulling cable, walking 15 miles in one day before driving home to us at about 5pm. Yes, that’s a 13 hour work day. And he comes home in a good mood. No bitching or complaining. Happy to see me and Dom. See, I told you he was awesome.

But getting back to my chaotic mornings. It’s a challenge to get everything done in the morning when Dom is so adventurous. He’s too old and big to be put in his pack and play (that now permanently resides at my parents house) so after I have got him dressed and fed him breakfast (while feeding Sophie and taking her to go potty) Dom has to come with me to so I can get ready for work. This used to be easier about 3 weeks ago. But in that short amount of time, he no longer quietly sits on the bed watching TV or reading his book. Now he squirms off the bed so that he can go through the dresser drawers or rummage through my closet and pull stuff off the hangers. He wants to explore the cabinet underneath the sink or play with Daddy’s laptop. I can’t even get through brushing my teeth without saying “Dom, no” or “Dominic, stop right now.” It gets me stressed out because I’m trying to get ready for work and trying to keep Dom to sit still all at the same time. I’ve got Sophie barking in the kitchen, Cuddles licking the plastic wipes package and Dom trying his very best to get into anything and everything that he can. By the time we’re walking out the door, I sometimes feel overwhelmed. I don’t know how single Moms do it. I take my hat off, because it’s a lot of work.

Did I mention that I’m super tired because Dom woke up at 4:30am on yesterday and decided he didn’t want to go back to sleep, so that’s when our day started. And then last night, when he should have been exhausted because he didn’t take a nap all day (and, you know, he was up at 4:30am) he still woke up at 2:30am wanting milk. I gave him some and put him back in his crib where he just cried on and off for 45 mins before I gave in and brought him into bed with me. I feel like I haven’t had any consistent sleep in months and I think it’s catching up to me.

But you know what? It’s all worth it. There isn’t one part of me that wishes these weren’t my problems. I love that these are my problems. Because it means that I have an awesome boyfriend, son, dog and cat and losing a little shut eye is a small price to pay for the place I call home.