Rita Chidinma: Hey Moms, We Love them But…Kids + the Holiday = Stress!

It’s the holidays.

Kids are at home full time – more active and energetic than ever. There’s probably something in the air this yuletide season.

So on this particular day, I’m down with a headache and catarrh – the annoying, endless runny nose kind. My husband has to work and there’s no power supply to distract the kids with the TV. Of all days, my little baby chooses that particular day to be wide awake and refused to take a nap – not even for 30 minutes. Oh! Did I mention that my two-year-old is also recovering from malaria and is fussy as hell? The older brother has also decided that ‘looking for his trouble’ is a very interesting thing to do all morning.

I get a small opportunity to freshen up and grab something to eat. I take care of the freshening up part, but guess what? I have no appetite. So instead, I grab an apple while praying fervently to God that my little baby sleeps a little longer. Unfortunately, my luck did not shine as I hear her wailing at the top of her lungs just a few minutes later. I quickly discard the tissue I’m using to hold the annoying runny nose at bay, wash my hands and dash over to the room to pick up my baby. I console her, then gently lay her on the bed again while keeping my nose – and face – away from her own face. But she’s not having it, she wants to play and she has that ‘why is my mummy turning her face away, looks like I’m going to have to cry some more’ look on her face.

So she increases the tempo and the boys are in the room now (more like on the bed) jumping up and down and shouting “baby, stop crying now?”. I’m sneezing; my nose is still running. If only I could pull out the damned nose and throw it away, Lol. I quickly dab my nose, trying to decide whether to go wash my hands and pick her up again or just carry her like that. I decide on the first. So amidst her cries, I quickly go wash my hands, carry her and herd everyone back to the sitting room.

My live-in help is just by the corner when I leave my room, wringing her hands and wondering how to help. She usually handles the boys while I care for my newborn. Lunchtime rolls around and I manage to feed the boys while carrying a very fussy baby. I figured feeding them myself on this peculiar day will shorten eating-time, compared to waiting for a hundred years for them to get food into their mouths from the plate, and then actually chew and swallow the food. I was wrong! Midway into lunch, my two-year-old throws up everything in his stomach on me, his elder brother and our little baby. Then he starts wailing at the top of his lungs.

At that point, I have simply had enough! So I pick up my phone to vent to my hubby on WhatsApp. Being a straight-to-the-point kind of guy, he immediately offers to round up and start coming home. This made me feel bad. I was just looking for a pat on the back, not like you should abandon your job.

The rest of the day was completely no joy and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I just kept fantasizing about when I’ll finally stretch out on my bed and shut my eyes.

But… wait for it… the kids didn’t sleep!

For some reason, all three kids decided to stay awake, refusing to sleep until after 10pm that night. I and hubby tried all we could: the usual tricks, lights off, let’s pray (did that over five times) and these little humans just refused to sleep. At some point, I actually thought that they could read my thoughts and knew I was craving rest so bad and just decided to be mean to their mummy.

Haha

Well… the day eventually came to an end sometime in the middle of the night, and can I say that I have never been that happy to shut my eyes and sleep? As a young mom, most times, sleep is a luxury for me. To think that there was ever a time my mom used to beat us to sleep. If only I could have those days back – just for a few days.

Being a mom can be really tough, so kudos to every young mom out there. You are loved.

Over to you? What’s your most difficult day as a mom?