The one who stayed behind

When Silver Bullet told me that he was due to start travelling for business again about a month ago and that he was leaving on a Sunday, it dawned on me that since Squirt was born, I have never ever actually been left alone with the kids.

The thought of being left to my own devices with a usually cranky, highly spirited, unpredictable 2.5 year old toddler and now a rather mobile 7-ish month old crawling baby stressed me. It would be the first time, on a Sunday where I would have to mind 2 kids by myself, plus another 5 days of managing morning chaos to get everyone ready before I head out for work.

All by myself.

Brilliant. Perfect. Big yikes.

My only consolation to myself is that if the Nanny can do it, damn it! So can I! So with a big fat sigh, I accepted the challenge rather apprehensively, mostly unsure of myself and feeling extreme anxiousness if I could step up to such a draining task. Although I know that I have the option of asking the Nanny in to help out, I figured this is just something which I would just have to deal with sooner or later…

So I did just that. I survived the first Sunday of being alone at home, juggling 2 kids without losing my mind. Spud has, to her credit, been rather well behaved. The only drama I had was when she woke up from her nap – wailing bloody murder and, in the process startled Squirt and woke him up as well.  Spud hardly ever wakes up from her nap pleasant – she is somehow, always crying her head off as if she has been tortured. This time she had wet herself as well and that sent her off on another tangent.

Suddenly I had 2 wailing kids - both needing attention at the same time.  I had to let Squirt cry in his cot while I changed Spud, calmed her down and then changed her bed sheets as quickly as I can before I picked up Squirt. They both stopped crying within 5 minutes.

The rest of the Sunday was pretty pleasant despite Squirt being a little crankier than usual. My hands were full with Squirt refusing to stay in his play pen and Spud getting into trouble.

With Squirt’s ability to crawl and by now, able pull himself to a stand (very wobbly!), he needed to be supervised all the time. And, even under very close supervision, he fell backwards and hit the floor flat on his back (cripes!!!) right under my nose. While I was actually there in front of him, I was on the wrong side and was just a little distracted when he decided to reach out to a small table of his height and instantly let go, fell backwards and so, I could not dive to him in time to prevent him from falling. It was his first major tumble so far.

He cried, but not inconsolable. He did fall quite hard, but the foam mat we had on the floor was a big saviour. He calmed down within seconds, and come to think of it, he cried a lot harder when left alone in his play-pen, preferring to be carried for most of the time.

I managed to juggle dinner and bath time for the both of them, and by 6pm, I had both of them in front of the TV – mesmerized by Alice in Wonderland. It was such an endearing sight to watch them sitting together quietly in full concentration for 5 full minutes.

Both were in bed and asleep by 7pm. 

I survived – and have several more days to negotiate the morning ritual. Let’s see how I fare on that one.