After work tonight, I was munching on Seth's chin and cheeks, just trying to gobble him up, and I heard his first giggles! It was super cute. He smiles and coos and talks and even screeches quite a bit. But this was the first time I've heard him really laugh. I know it won't be long before William makes him giggle like that.
Then, as if first giggles weren't enough, we were out in the front yard talking to our neighbors, who have a 4-year-old boy and a 2-month-old baby boy (six weeks younger than Seth, but a whole pound bigger!). We were talking about what to do for dinner and we decided to go out to dinner together. Ed thought for sure that the evening was going to be a disaster. But it was the best evening out with the kids that we've ever had. We went to a local restaurant and they ended up giving us a table in the "private party" room, which was perfect. There was another large group there with young kids, so we didn't have to worry about the annoying factor (wherein we might be annoying the other customers). I was less noisy than the main dining room, it was well-lit, and we had plenty of room. Seth and Hunter (the other baby) drifted off to sleep in their car seats and slept through our entire meal (both of them woke up just as we were finishing), and William sat in his booster the whole time and colored and played with play dough and ate bits and pieces of our dinners. He got a bit antsy at the end of our meal and we let him down, but because we were in the back room, we didn't have to worry about him straying or annoying other diners. And Matt, the 4-year-old, was very well behaved, too. I got to chat with Dana, and Ed got to chat with Shawn, and it was one of those times when I really felt human again.
Having a newborn can do strange things to your psyche, and until certain things happen, I feel like I'm living in some kind of weird bubble. But then you have your first bottle of beer or glass of wine, and pop! You start feeling human again. Or you eat an entire meal without interruption, at a leisurely pace, and pop! You start feeling human again. Or you (gasp!) read a book. Pop! You're a human again! I guess it doesn't just have to be having a newborn that sends you into the bubble. Parenting, in general, can do this to you. So what do you do that makes you feel human again?
5 comments:
Wait, you ate an entire meal without interruption?! Still waiting for that in our house :) I know what you mean, I didn't truly start feeling normal again until I had time and energy to exercise and time and energy to read.
My next feeling of normalness was when I could get out of bed on the weekends without someone crying. Still happens occasionally but most early Saturday mornings I spend drinking coffee and surfing the internet while the boys watch a show and eat breakfast.
PS. It always seems if we go to dinner with other people's kids, all the kids act so much better. What's up with that??
Well, this is work related but grading papers or meeting fellow teachers to plan lessons at Starbuck's makes me feel human again. It just feels good to give 100% of my focus to my wonderful job--even if it's only for an hour or two. (In the classroom, all my focus goes there too but that's OTJ so it's a given.)
Great post! So glad that both families were so spontaneous! I agree with Laura that when I could read before going to bed was when I started to feel normal again. The other "human" feeling comes when I have coffee with a friend. or find time to write in my journal. It is encouraging to me to read that you already are having these "pop" moments when Seth is still so young. GOOD!
Going back to work, even part-time, has made me feel a little bit human again. Before that, the times I really felt like my pre-kids-self were very few and far between. I'm ok with that. :)
Sadly, most of my "human again" moments are when I am by myself--shopping, drinking coffee, organizing a closet, driving and not listening to kids music/videos. But the first time Lana watched an entire video of Little Einsteins while I made dinner was true bliss. Prior to that I would cook dinner with her attached to my leg.
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