Hibernate Blog

There comes a moment when the cumulative effects of sleepless nights and demanding days reaches a point of no return. The weary murmurs of, “Will it ever end?” and “Just one more minute, Mama just needs one more minute to sleep,” begin to ebb. The rhythm of the infant march, the feedings and the naps, the rocking and the shushing takes hold and the hard edges blur. There is routine and mastery, maybe even a touch of auto-pilot, until it happens.

You sit nestled in the couch, the house is still but for the gentle post-storm breeze, your laptop or a book rests on your lap, you are at peace. Calm. You pause, feeling something afoot, but unsure of exactly what it is, until you turn. And there she (or he) sits, aglow in loving you.

Pudgy bare feet with wiggly toes extended upward as if stretching to accommodate more joy, eyes twinkling, scanning your face until you smile. You set aside your reading and lean in, “Ah-goo,” she says, and of course you “ah-goo” back. It is hard to know in these moments who is more proud, whose delight soars higher.

What is perfectly clear is exactly your place and purpose in the world.

This moment of joy, life lived fully.

Ever tried to get things done, I am mean really getting things done, while working from home in the company of a breastfeeding infant, a 2 year old with a broken leg and a project loving three and a half year old?
No?
Really?
Well, if you haven’t occasion to run to the DMV at noon on the eve of a holiday weekend, this is the next best way to slowly lose it. I kid.

Last week I had several things I very much wanted (and needed) to get done in conjunction with the launch of the redesigned SaraBear website. I knew that I would need to be aggressive in my activity planning to keep the girls a) less aware of the unrelenting Adirondack humidity and b) relatively out of my hair in order to cross some things off of my list. I knew that my greatest chance of success lay in my successful choreography of a project that would put the big girls in plain sight of the littlest girl.

Successful projects when working from home, in my experience, tend to involve the weaving of said project into your work. Now, even though my girls can steer a mouse through iTunes and sing their abc’s, they have not yet mastered HTML, helping was out of the question. Parking them in front of the tv or computer, while occasionally effective, always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Taking my laptop outside fails as the glare from the sun is too intense and the dirt that Avery gets into and the water that Briar splashes in, put the baby and my computer in peril. Sigh.

Looking at my mountain of things that I take to and from the office each day I spied my research, magazines. A collage? No, that would mean 2 projects rather than 1. It needed to involve both girls and, quite honestly as much structure (read: less choices) as possible to allow more “project-doing” and less bickering. I grabbed a magazine and sought inspiration, it came in the form of water-colored sketches of women in Real Simple, a magazine that I love for its reassurance that everyone is really just trying to figure it out the “it” being managing work, family and organization.

I quickly snipped the heads off the illustrations as the wheels in my head turned, we’d make a garden.

No pipe cleaners…Cardboard from the discarded Huggies box could be stems.

No pots…The diaper caddy could house the garden.

No activity…once finished they could “water” the garden and “pick” the flowers.



I alternately wrapped green construction paper around strips of cardboard while oohing and ahhing over the faces the girls picked and drafted a press release for Eve Gumpel at WomenEntrepreneur.com. The nature of the project allowed for little fingers to assist with positioning and taping and for little sisters to watch while kicking and gurgling.



Now, I may not have found a way to change the world, but I did find a way to get three kids to pass an afternoon without screaming, crying or fighting, while I managed to get things done. All in all, for this working mom, it was a pretty perfect little world for a little while.


A job well done.

From fathers and sons…

To fathers and daughters…

Father’s Day in the Adirondacks was a beautiful sunny day.

To all the expectant dads, new dads and veteran dads out there, here’s hoping you had a great day!

Did you know that a SaraBear diaper caddy can do more than hold diapers? There are several pockets along the inside, one is a tiny little compartment perfect for gas drops or an i-Pod. I use one to keep a bottle of water handy and another for tucking my glasses in at bedtime. If you’d like you can use the whole thing as a breastfeeding caddy, instead of diapers and wipes you can store your nursing supplies, from pump to storage bags and pads.

‘Course, if you do that, someone else may find another use for your nursing supplies…

Kids really do say the darndest things, how awkward when they do it in reference to your boss’s kid.

This is Nathan, Melissa’s 2 and a half year old son.

Here’s Avery, my two year old daughter.

Avery is really excited because tonight, “Napkin’s sister, Sara” and “Wissa” are coming to our house.

Napkin.

Seriously, she could’ve picked “Neptune” or “Nemo,” but no, she calls my boss’s son “Napkin”.

Ave’s dad just got home and informed that she also has a name for her friend down the street. His parents call him Cameron.

My Ave calls him, “Ham”.

I have a felling I know exactly who the real ham is.