The Mob

As we have moved to a new (why they say "new"? It is not new) different place recently, our lives have completely changed. Since July 2010, my family and I moved to Japan. For 2 months we were living out of our suitcases, in hotels and struggling to get settle in our new apartment. Things have not been easy but we are getting there.
One of the big changes that affected us was the fact that Little Prince entered a new school. In the US, he was used to a small scale day care center. But here in Japan, he is in a big international school. The school arbors different nationalities, and offers classes up to high school. My son is actually enrolled in the Montessori Pre-K program. He is in a class with 11 other children and has two teachers. The program is very different from what he was used to. However so far, he has been able to follow it. I may even add that he loves it.

I also love the school but not only because my son seems to be happy there. I love the school because they have a support system that helps newly arrived family. The school being international, it welcomes mostly expatriate families that come to Japan for work. Usually those families get help from relocation agents as was the case with us. But there is so much that those agents cannot do. Sometimes, you need the advice of someone who has been there and done that. The mothers of the school form a group that welcome the new comers and provide information not only about the school but also about life in Japan. Those women are so well organized that my husband nicknamed them The Mob.

As far as I know the women of the Mob are not into illegal activities and they do not whack anyone. However, they are so well organized that it is hard not to compare them to it. Once a month, they have a meeting to discuss problems in the school and bring reforms. Moreover, they have another more public meeting, where they discuss interesting topics concerning life in Japan, and they invite third parties to introduce their clubs or programs to the women. This is only at the official level.
At the unofficial level, they help more than anyone would know. Only by discussing at the school playground while their kids are playing, they share important information with new comers. For example, they would tell you where to shop for international food, where to go to buy a used car, they would recommend a doctor. It is such an interesting process that we all end up shopping at the same place, buying cars at the same company and seeing the same doctor.

What I mostly love about the Mob is that they have this enrichment program. The enrichment program is a program in which mothers at the school provide free lessons such as cooking, language and cultural classes. The enrichment program was initiated by the school to help new comers to enjoy their stay in Japan. Moreover it was to show the children at the school that learning is a lifelong process; even adults needed to learn something. With the exception of professionals who donate their free time, mothers of the school offers those lessons. There are dancing, cooking, gym, language classes but also classes about Japanese culture such as Ikebana (flower arrangement), Origami and Aikido. The enrichment program also organizes excursions to discover the town, for example a tour at the famous 4 floors 100 Yen store, a tour of the Japanese hot springs, a tour at the museum.

For someone, who spent the last year confined at home with a baby, having very little interaction with women, meeting the Mob was a blessing. Even if I do not join any class, I have enough chat with women on a daily basis. And we have a lot of things in common being mothers and expat.  All my best friends being single and childless, it is refreshing to talk to someone who shares the same experience or lifestyle as I do.
I did join some classes and enjoy every single moment of it. Having a 1 year old son blocks me from doing more. However, I am so busy with my own life in general ( I now do the shopping and without a car, it is such a pain)  and socializing, that I do not see any more space for classes. I am in the toddler's group- that is like a indoor playground for kids under the age of 3- that meets every Wednesday, and I am also doing tone and trim class every Friday. On top of that I am in the book club that meets once a month, and I am doing Indian dance twice a month. And some women meet to have coffee and chat on a daily basis. I have been invited to some women's houses for coffee, birthday parties and play dates. My husband thinks that I am so buys socializing that I even neglect my "housewife duties" such as shopping and cleaning. He is right in a way. Some days, I leave home to go to school at 8 AM and do not come back home until 1 PM. It is fun but sometimes I am so tired I wished I had a day to stay at home and enjoy some quiet time. I guess, I should not be complaining. One year ago, I would have never guessed that my life would be turned upside down.

I am not sure I quite joined the Mob. I do not even know whether or not there are conditions to join it. I just know that as a mother who is fairly new to the school, but not new to life in Japan (as I have lived here for 7 years in the past), I get helped but I also help. That is the motto of the Mob: get helped but also contribute, and be social. That is why, I organized a little party with some mothers and their children at my house yesterday. Moreover, I am going to have a Senegalese cooking class next year. If I had other skills, I would love to share them with the women. I have to rack my brain to think of something as I am clueless now. But we never know.

From now on, I think this blog will future more articles about the Mob. There is so much to talk about. I just hope I will have to all put it on paper (or on the net)

Teureudi 1号２号

In my language, "Teureudi"  is used to describe someone who cannot stay still. It is commonly used for someone who tosses and turns during his sleep.
1号２号 (pronounces Ichi Go Ni Go) is the Japanese number 1 and two, but they are usually used for things such as trains.

I combined these two words in this title to describe my two sons during their sleeps because like Shinkansen (or bullet trains) they move and disturb everything on their way.

As we have been moving from continent to continent, and hotels to hotels, I began sleeping with both my sons and my husband on the same big bed, or futon. It made me realise how difficult it is to fall asleep with two kids under four in the same bed. When they are awake, they want to play. They jump and fight like little monkeys. And I have to separate them by putting myself in the middle,  for them to finally be quiet and fall asleep. But things get worse when they do sleep: they toss and turn. If they were laying horizontally, they would end up sleeping vertically. They would kick and push their way inside the big bed until they find a better spot. The worse part is that sometimes they move so far as to fall off the bed. However, what I find to be very interesting about their way of sleeping is that subconsciously, they are both attracted to each other. If for some reason, they are far apart in the bed, sooner or later they will find their way back to each other. In other words, they would stick to each other like two new born twins. Baby boy will put his arm around Lion Prince, and the later would put his leg on his brother's stomach. Hilarious but dangerous. I have to check on them often to make sure that they do not hurt each other.

As much as I enjoy bonding with my sons in the bed, I cannot wait for them to start sleeping in their own bed. It took Baby Boy 3 years for him to finally sleep by himself in his bed and in his room. And since his younger brother is still sleeping with me, I wonder how long it will take him to sleep on his own. After Baby Boy, I had vowed that the second baby will sleep by himself on his crib and never on my bed. But things did not turn out the way I wanted to be. I failed once again. I wish I could learn from my mistakes. But I do not.
So what's a mother to do? I guess while hoping that is not too late, I need to wean the second son from myself. Once that is successfully done, I will try to use his big brother as an example and teach him how to sleep alone on his bed. Then I can take back my life. I dream of having early me time at nights while the kids sleep. I can watch some TV, write my blog or even enjoy some quality time with the hubby. I hope that day comes sooner than later....

My Little monkeys

I am raising monkeys. In real life, I have two boys under the age of 4. However, sometimes I feel like I am raisin monkeys. They jump, they run, they scream, they bite. What did I do to deserve such terrible creatures. Me, who is afraid of animals, I have to deal with these two on daily basis. It would have been great if they would both listen to me. But no! They do as they please without dreading any consequences. I run after them, I cry to get their attention away from dangerous things, I clean up after them. I am like the zoo keeper who takes care of monkeys. Except that one gets paid and I am not. Well, at least today, big monkey made a present out of journal papers and gave it to me for my birthday (he does not know that it is way passed). And small monkey gave me two kisses on the mouth, which were more like two drool pecks. So, I guess in a way I am paid.
Raising kids boys is like raising monkeys. But for someone who does not know how to raise kids, let along monkeys, I guess the task at hand can be a little tricky. But as for anything else, I am going to take it one step at a time, hoping that I will do good by my little monkeys and help them become the kings of the jungle (aka strong and good men)
And for all women (and men) out there trying to be parents to monkeys (o anyother animal type), I feel your pain. Someday, it will get better...

The world's slowest eater

I am the most impatient person I know. I hate waiting. Above all, I hate waiting for people. And you would think that I would be thoughtful enough not to make people wait for me, but no. I never knew how bad it was until one closest friend pointed it to me. We were waiting for her husband to pick her up. He said he was just 5 minutes away but those 5 turned out to be 20 minutes. I was talking to my friend but I was growing so impatient inside that I was unconsciously stomping my feet on the ground. She was laughing at me so hard.
Imagine my frustration at Little Prince for being the world's slowest eater (and I am not exaggerating). I thought my best friend was the world's slowest eater. She used to pick small pieces from her plate and chew them extra carefully. Whenever we would have diner, I would be done an hour before her. It used to drive me nuts.
But it is nothing compared to my son. He takes all his time to eat his food. He slowly picks up his spoon or fork, takes the food, puts it in his mouth all the while looking up and down, left or right, asking silly questions, watching TV. And he takes forever to chew and swallow. Eating is more like a ritual, than a necessity for him.
It gets particularly annoying in the morning because we have a schedule. Little Prince needs to be dropped off at daycare by 9 AM. Therefore, with all the he has going on in the morning, we still need him to eat at a reasonable pace.
Before, we used to wake him up at 7 AM, feed him, make him sit on the potty, shower and dress him and send him to school. It took forever because he would be still sleepy.The fact that the TV was on did not help as well. Both my husband and I were growing more and more impatient at his eating habit. Therefore we decided to switch the schedule a bit. Now, we wake him up at 6:30 AM, shower and dress him and send him to eat his breakfast. After a nice shower, he is feeling more awake and alert to face the morning. This new strategy showed a little bit of improvement. Sometimes when I turn the TV off, he is even more focused.
Nevertheless, Little Prince is still a slow eater. It drives me crazy when he is set on choosing what piece of food he will eat first even if it is all the same like cereals. And I just want to scream when he stops and asks me 101 questions. It appears that he is the same at school. His teacher says that he socializes with his friends instead of concentrating on eating. I think it is a great quality to be friendly at a diner table but only when you are an adult, spending time with other adults. When you are a child, you just need to eat your food as fast as you can and be quiet. At least that was how I was raised.
When we were kids, my mother taught us to eat properly (meaning without spilling food and such) and in silence particularly when we ate with the entire family. We would not eat on nice plates at a dining table (it was only for special occasions like Christmas during which my mother would put out her best china). It was a habit (and a tradition) to eat around a big plate. Everyone would dig in the plate almost at the same time.

How most families eat in Senegal:


picture borrowed from off-the-beaten-track.net

Everyone eats relatively at a fast pace. We- children- also had to be fast if we wanted to eat enough of all the delicacies that were served. My brothers and I used to "fight" over french fries. It was a race to get as much as we each wanted before anyone else. This taught me to be a fast eater.
Little Prince is only 4 years old. Therefore I understand that he is still not rounded enough to be able to eat fast. However, I always tell him that because he eats on a single plate (and that his other sibling is still too young to eat with him), he does not understand the need to eat fast. If he was to share his food with other children his age, he would figure that he needs to be fast if he wants to get certain goodies before the others. I often dream of him surrounded by other siblings, fighting over food. I consider it to be a pure picture of happiness. (even though, that means I will probably need to drop more babies)
I am worried about Little Prince. I wish there was something I could do to make him eat his food faster. I tried several things: cutting his food in tiny pieces, mashing it, even feeding him. But nothing. It went up to a point when he expected me to feed him like a baby. He was becoming lazy. What I do not understand is that he used to be a very good eater. He was fast enough, and not messy at all. It started to change after his baby brother was born. I guess seeing the baby getting all this attention is affecting him more than we would like to admit.
Nevertheless, I think I just need to be more patient with him and encourage him to do better. Because after all he is just 4. In time, his eating skills will be more developped. At least, that is what I am hoping for.

Hurricanes

"Just leave me alone!" I feel like screaming few times a day. I live in a household with three other males: my husband and my two boys. Sometimes I feel like a second class citizen. My needs and wants always come the last. All of my energy centers around these three. I take care of them in the best way I can but it is very hard to divide myself in three. They are so demanding and they do not even realize it. My husband is still alright, because he is an adult and can take care of himself. However, sometimes he craves my attention like any spouse would do.
I feel like all three of them are like hurricanes, ready to turn my world upside down every morning and every night. It starts from the moment they wake up. I have to bath them, feed them, prepare them for school. And when they come back from school (and work), I have to start over again (feed them, bathe them and get them ready for bed). I can snatch a few me time when I stay at home with the baby. When he naps, or plays I get to enjoy some Internet browsing or just plain TV. The best alone time I get is in the middle of the night when I am awake because I am too anxious to sleep (do not ask me why?). I turn on the TV and watch rerun cop shows. Or just read a book (on my bedside right now is Game Change. Truly fascinating!). At those times I get to breathe and be myself and not the wife and mother of two.
They say that once you dread your husband coming back home from work, the marriage is over or in big trouble. I dread having my husband coming back from work, because it means no more quiet and peaceful time for me. It means he and my second son (from daycare) will rush inside the house and demands all kind of things from me, from water, to snacks, to diner, to change the TV and conversation about my day...As soon as they enter the door, it is like I cannot breathe anymore. I want to scream:" Just go back to where you are from!". Is it bad that I feel this way about them? Am I too selfish?
My best friend always tells me that she is envious of what I have: a family. And I always tell her that I am envious of what she is: single. I had so much me time when I was single. I could go out on a limp and do things I care about without having to report to anybody or worry about finding a baby sitter. It was fun. But come to think of it: I hated being single. I always had boyfriends because I hated being alone. I enjoyed me time but too much of it and I did not know what to do with myself. That is why I got married early and that is why I had children early.
To sum it up, like everyone else, I hate hurricanes for turning our lives upside down. But sometimes, they can be a blessing in disguise because my hurricanes turn my life upside down for the better: I am better human being, a better wife and mother, a better cook (lately I even impressed myself)...So go on and mess with my life! Just leave me with enough power to mess with yours back.

Milkaholic VS Breastoholic

I used to think that no one can be more addicted to breast milk than my first born. That kid used to breastfeed non stop. He would even sleep while his lips sucked my nipples. I thought it would be hard to wean him off breast milk. Thankfully, it took only 3 days for him to get over them. Now he looks at them like they did not even help him survive his first year of life.
Now, my second son is another story. He loves to breastfeed as much as his older brother. He eats when he is hungry, cranky or just sleepy. However, there is a difference between his brother and him. My second son clearly enjoys the nipple more than the milk itself. Whenever I breastfeed him, he takes comfort in nibbling on my nipples. He even reaches out to my other nipple and starts playing with it. I find it endearing.
My first son was a milkaholic. He loved milk. But it did not have to be breast milk only. I could feed him a bottle of soy milk and he would be happy.
My second son on the contrary is a breastoholic. He needs the breast more than the milk. He enjoys milk if served in a cup. But he does not necessarily live for it.
The reason why my second son is such a breastoholic is that the first thing he ate minutes, seconds after he was born was my breast milk. Right after being delivered, he was in my arms suckling. My first son, unfortunately enjoyed formula at the hospital because he had to be in intensive care unit right after his birth. I think he breastfed a day after his birthday. Then the older he was getting, he had other things to fall back on such as his pacifier or the baby bottle.
His younger brother does not even accept a bottle or a pacifier. It is like he hates everything made of latex. His pediatrician says that he enjoys the real deal aka my breast. I understand the feeling but it is so hard with him. Going out becomes a hassle. And I cannot leave him with anyone else because he does not accept the bottle. Thankfully he is growing up and eating food. He is even drinking in a sippy cup. Yet, the breast is his security blanket. He needs it to feel comfy, safe. He cannot even sleep without it.
My husband believes that I will have a serious problem weaning him off the breast milk. I have my fears that this battle is going to be longer than the 3 days I endure with his brother. But I will keep my fingers crossed and try hard. And if my method does not work, I can always try to draw a scary picture on my breasts like one of my friend did successfully to wean her daughter.

He woke him up with a kiss (grateful days)

Yesterday, I woke up and my 9 month old woke up next to me. I know that I vowed that he would sleep in his crib by himself unlike his brother who slept on my bed until he turned 3. However, I was never true to my word. Anyway, once he woke up, I took him to wake up his older brother so that they could take their bath together as they have been doing for the last week or so. I put him on my 3 year old son's bed and waited for them to interact. He crawled up to my son who was still sleeping and planted a kiss on his head to wake him up. My heart just melted at this sight. I thought that it was just a coincidence but he did it a second time. I was so happy that I laughed like a maniac. I called my husband who was sitting on the living room. All he said was that it was normal since for the last 5 months of his life, my second son has been woken up by my eldest with kisses.

My second son is old enough to interact with his brother now. And so far, it has been very fun. The Lion King is very bossy and wants everything that the Little Prince has whether it is toys or just a bottle of water. So far, we have indulged him. My first born is learning to share and be gentle with his brother. It has caused issues in the past like that day when he burst into tears because his brother tore up a page of his book. But I guess it will teach him never to lay the toys he wants that bad around for the baby to play with.

There are days when I wonder what will I do with two sons? There are days when I just want to lock them in a room and forget about them. However, there a days just like yesterday when they both make my heart melt. And for those days, I cannot be grateful enough. I guess that some people are searching their lifetime for moments like that without never having them. And I am lucky enough to have them. I should never take them for granted.

Cervical cancer.....I will think about it tomorrow

After my annual checkup at my OBGYN, I received an interesting call. It seems that the lab had found some abnormalities during my pap smear and my doctor wanted me to do further tests. Two weeks later, I went back in for a colposcopy. For those who do not know, a colposcopy is defined by Wikipedia.com to be "a medical diagnostic procedure to examine an illuminated, magnified view of the cervix and the tissues of the vagina and vulva". I have never heard of such a procedure but from what I learned, the doctor would just take a closer look at me down there. He also performed a biopsy by removing some cells from my cervix. He said that he did not see anything alarming, but he would rather wait for the lab results. During the visit we discussed about the worse case scenario and the word "cervical cancer" was uttered.
I have heard of cervical cancer before. But I have to admit that I do not know what is it at all. I did some research on the Internet, and here is what I found out. Cervical cancer is a cancer that forms in the tissues of the cervix. It is usually caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. (Waouh, another big word, but just know that it is a virus that infects you). There may not be any symptoms at the early stages of cervical cancer, which makes it hard to detect without a pap smear. Vaginal bleeding is a big indicator. Once the cervical cancer is in the advanced stages symptoms may include: loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, pelvic pain, back pain, leg pain, single swollen leg, heavy bleeding from the vagina, leaking of urine or feces from the vagina, and bone fractures.
All these explanations can make your heart race and start praying. Hell, anyone hearing cancer can start praying...But let us not get ahead of us, cervical cancer is treatable with chemotherapy and in really bad cases hysterectomy. Hysterectomy is the removal of the uterus and part of the vagina, with the lymph nodes, which basically means that you are screwed because you will not be able to procreate anymore. You can also have a trachelectomy done which is a procedure to remove the cancerous cells but at the same time trying to leave the reproductive organs intact. Both the hysterectomy and the trachelectomy are for the advanced stages of the cancer. When it is still at its early stages, women can have radiation therapy down there. The cervix can also be frozen to kill the cancer.
All of this information makes me feel dizzy. I remember that right after the exam, I felt like I was about to faint. Sure, my cervix was on fire from the biopsy, but I was more emotionally drained than physically tired. I started to think about all that could go wrong. And then I started to ask GOD why, why me? What did I do to ever deserve cancer? Doctors say that HPV causes cancer. And HPV infection co-factors are usually bad diet, smoking, multiples pregnancies, hormonal contraception, unsafe sex or multiple partners among others. Instead of blaming GOD, maybe I should just check myself and see if I was at risk due to my behavior or lifestyle.
Bad diet: I do have a bad diet. I do not eat fruits, although I drink fruity juices. I do eat vegetables but surely not enough. I love everything that is fried, greasy, cheesy, full of carbs, full of sugar and chocolate. Burgers, pizza, pasta, french fries, peanut butter chocolate and milkshakes are the food I crave. And given the option I prefer a sprite to water.
Smoking: I think that smoking two cigarettes two days in a row when I was 15 does not count at all.
Multiple pregnancies: so far I had been pregnant just twice so it is kind of multiple but I am not even close to Michelle Douggar.
Hormonal contraception: I did take hormonal contraception through the pill some years back for 2 months. But I hated it because I would never remember to take it on time.
Unsafe sex or multiple partners: As lame as it could be considered to be in this world nowadays, I have had only one sexual partner, my husband. I do have unprotected sex with him because duh, we are in a "closed" or monogamous marriage.
Therefore I guess, I did not do much to cause this cervical cancer of mine. It just kind of happen.
Stop! Let us rewind a bit. I do not have cervical cancer or at least I do not know whether or not I have it because my doctor has not called me yet to tell me the results of the biopsy. Therefore, I am way ahead in my thinking.
Nevertheless, I cannot stop but think. I decided to do the worrying and anxiety thing if only I receive bad news. But for now, I am just going to think. And I have been thinking about one of the worse case scenarios: having cancer and being obliged to do a hysterectomy. Which would ultimately mean that I would become sterile. For the past year, I have been saying that I do not want anymore children. I love babies and always wanted to have many of them. But having two of my own under the age of four, I realized that children were not as fun as I thought it to be. They require too much of your time and attention, not to mention money. And the more you have, the less time you have to concentrate on you and you only. However, I would be devastated if ever I was to have a hysterectomy. Because as backward thinking as it will sound, being able to have baby makes me a woman. It is the only thing that I do good (provided a little help from my husband). And every time I get pregnant, I feel as if I am a walking miracle. My pregnancies are not the best of time for several reasons but I would give everything to be pregnant again. And denying me that, is like denying me of life itself. How ironic, because I was just saying to my husband that I would not want to be defined by my children when in reality they define me...they are not me, but they make me who I am. And I want more of them whether or not I can handle it...
Nevertheless, as I was saying earlier, let us not get ahead of ourselves. I do not have the results for now. And like Scarlet O'hara, I will think about it tomorrow....

For more info on cervical cancer and HPV, go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervical_cancer#Signs_and_symptoms
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/cervical

Update: the tests results came back negative. The doctor said that I did not have anything alarming. However, he suggested that I should come more often for check ups. I am thankful but still fearful...

Why I cannot enter my son at the Live's Beautiful Baby Search contest

I love "Live with Regis and Kelly". I find them both hilarious. There are part of my morning routine, along with feeding my baby,eating breakfast and "The View" . . Recently the show have started their annual Beautiful Baby search in collaboration with Parenting magazine. Parents are urged to post or send in pictures of their babies and I am not sure who chooses but the 10 finalists are sent to New York to meet with Regis and Kelly but also to have a special photo shoot with Parenting magazine. They also win prizes. The winner get $125.000 for college tuition and his picture on the cover of the magazine.
As a proud parent of a cute baby, I was thinking of sending a picture. I am not sure that my baby will win but I have some pictures that can make anyone beam in awe at him. I am sure he could make the top ten at least. However, I cannot send the pictures for the following crazy reasons.
I come from a country where "Soutoura" or discretion is very important. People tend not to expose themselves and keep their business very private. They think that the more they expose themselves, the more they are subject to what they call "Tchat" or "La'mign". It is hard to explain what both these words exactly means, but let me try. In simple it just means that the more people talk about you, the more bad things happen. I tend to think like that a bit as well. For instance, I never talk about a project to anyone until it is final because I am afraid that it could get jinxed. And I remember one day my mother in law flipping out about my brother in law girlfriend because she let her school post her picture for an ad in the newspaper. The girl took ill later on and my mother in law was convinced that it was due to the "Tchat". I am not convinced something bad can happen to my son if he is shown on national TV after I send his picture to the show. But, I do not want to take chances.
Besides my husband who cares about "Chat" a lot as well, may flip if he knows about it. He gets a bit angry whenever he finds out that I posted pictures of my son on Facebook so imagine his reaction. We live in a world where if you do something, it can be on the net by the end of the day. It used to be stars and politicians that were the target. But no one is safe now. With Facebook and Twitter and pictures that are tagged, you can know things that a person wanted to keep to herself like a pregnancy or that he/she was cheating. You can say that there is nothing harmful about a baby picture but I would answer with what my mother always tell me: "you never know what an ill-intended person could do!" In a land where Voodoo is the weapon of choice to settle disputes or get rid of someone whom we envy, a photo can be very useful. I am sure it is pretty risky to put up my baby photo on Facebook but I calm myself by thinking that I am only sharing it to my friends and none of them would never do anything to hurt me. However, I am not as ready yet to send my baby picture to the show (for national exposure) no matter how tempting the prizes are.
Senegalese people are a bit different than Americans in this sense. They do not want to expose themselves. The culture is changing with the new technologies mentionned above. But in my homeland we are still far from the crazy world of reality TVs, where every wants its 15 minutes of fame. We still believe that exposure is not necessarily a good thing. I am sure we will catch up very soon. We will not be able to avoid or stop it.
As far as I am concerned, I will keep the Soutoura to a certain level I am comfortable with. Hence, I will keep on dreaming about entering to the contest and winning it without really doing anything about it.
Nevertheless, I cannot possibly enter the show. I am not a legal resident in this country.

http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/regisandkelly/contests/beautifulbaby10/index.html

I am in love (precious times under the shower)

One of my favorite time of the day is to share a shower with my son. As a stay at home mother, my day routine is pretty much simple voir boring. I wake up, give food to my son, watch Regis and Kelly, while browsing Facebook (that is if my son takes a nap), watch the View, and do some chores the rest of the day while breastfeeding. Nothing is new or different. And this can be a very depressing routine. Yet, there is one time of the day ( apart from laughing my butt off at "Friends") that gets me excited and can soothe me down at the same time: sharing a shower with my son.
I take showers. I love bath particularly on cold days but I do not have the time to soak in them. So I take very hot showers. I prepare for it by putting my son on his bouncer inside the bathroom and turn on the hot water faucet. Then I carefully lay out on his crib in the next room his diaper and clothes plus the clothes I intend on wearing after showering. I go back inside the bathroom and take off my clothes. I jump into the shower and clean myself first. When I am done, I go out and undress my son who has been patiently waiting for me on his bouncer. He understands that it is time for his shower when he sees me undress him. Sometimes he cannot even contain his excitement and squeals like a groupie at a Jonas Brothers concert. I hold him and get inside the shower. He enjoys the hot water as much as I do. I hold on carefully to him and wash him with liquid soap. His body becomes very smooth and slippery therefore I have to hold him extra carefully. After washing him, I just put his head on my shoulder and rock him under the bath. He enjoys this moment by sucking on his fingers. At that moment, I am the calmest I can ever be. I look at my beautiful son and cannot help but be grateful to GOD for him. I enjoy his warm and plump body next to mine. I am so in love and I cannot explain how or why. My son is not even my type: he is short, chubby, bald and does not even have teeth yet. But under the shower, he is the most precious and beautiful thing I have ever seen(ok, pretty much everytime he is the most precious and beautiful thing for me). I just wished I could stay under the hot water, entangled with him forever. But the clock is ticking, I got to go and start dinner for the two other loves of my life.