I was thinking of this stage of motherhood the other day. The stage when your child seems very needy. And your arms feel very tired. It's generally not so much a stage as it is perhaps a time of day. Nap time. Or time for a nap time.
Or teething time. Or under the weather time. Or I don't want anyone else to hold me but you time...a stage which lasted almost a year with Izzy. A stage which still causes me to wake up at night, covered in cold sweats.
Anyway. What a busy week this has been. It's actually not been especially more demanding schedule-wise, but I think we are all lagging, all a bit unravelled. It's just that time of year, isn't it?
Isn't it?
I let the two older girls sleep in this morning and took them to school later with the world's nuttiest note of excuse:
Please excuse Sophie and Isabella from school this morning. They awoke feeling rather poorly but have since rallied and are ready to make a go of it.
I signed it "Sincerely" and added my phone number, in case someone wanted to call and see if I was for real.
Caroline and I walked to school, as usual. These days, as we cross to the sunny side of the street, we actually sing the song. It makes us ridiculously happy.
Anyway...back to the picture. I'm looking at it and oddly enough, I don't identify with the mother. I feel more like the child. I just feel a bit worn out, a bit not in the mood to be running the show. Nothing major, mind you. But I do wish I could climb into someone's lap right now.
Just for a second.