There Might Be Tears...

It's setting in already. Here it is, November 16, and I'm starting to feel cabin fever creep up on me. Actually, we had some truly gorgeous days and unseasonably warm weather last week, which was a real blessing, but today it's rainy and chilly, and they (and by "they", I mean my Amish neighbors, who always seem to be right about the weather) are talking snow soon.

I don't know how I'll get through the next five months.

Oh, I know! I'll complain about it on my blog all winter!

Yes!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!


How's that for a start?

It could get ugly around here real fast, folks. I was not made for Northern Winter.

Part of the problem is being trapped in the house and not just that, cuz I could probably sleep and read books all winter, but being trapped with a bored child who would rather be out running barefoot and climbing trees and digging in dirt. How many times today --just today-- have I fielded these questions?

"What can we do?"
"Can I have a snack?"
"Can I watch a mooooovie?"
"Can I play computer games?"
"Will you read this to meeee?"
"What can I make?"
"Can I have a snack?"
"Where can we go?"
"Will you play with me?"
"Can I have a snack?"

And that's not even counting all the usual interrogation that goes on about every thing, small or big, that comes up all day. (Case in point: every time we talk about the new baby, we have to talk about how it comes out. Yeah.) And the "whys". Oh, lubme, the "whys". "Why is the sky blue?" pales in comparison to the bizarre and utterly pointless "whys" around here.

"Why does my biplane have wings?"
"Why are the dishes dirty?"
"Why are fairies naked?"
"Why is the milk cold?"
"Why is this crayon green?"
"Why can we not eat bad guys?"
"Why do Indians sometimes not wear shirts?"
"Why do we eat breakfast in the morning?"
...

"...Mommy... why are you sitting in a corner rocking and painting on yourself?"


The point is that this kid is bored. It's probably a good thing we don't have money to burn, or I'd buy a pile of toys and other paraphernalia for him for Christmas in hopes of making it through till spring. I know it's good for him to be bored, and an excess of toys would be very, very bad. Charlotte Mason writes of how good it is for a child to be bored in order to develop their imaginations and resourcefulness. However, it seems that she fails to mention the insanity factor for the mother.

But then, I guess that just comes with the territory of "Mother", right? Insanity.

I'm just not good at providing entertainment. I do try to have projects, lessons, books, crafts, etc. available for certain times, but that doesn't really take up that much time in our overall day. I also try to include him in what I'm doing whenever possible. But at this point, I'm very tired, and queasy quite often, so I'm just not into playing, or doing many "extras". (Aside: I just have to idea what kind of superhuman strength it must take for those Mamas who get really, horribly sick in pregnancy, but also have a bunch of little kids to care for. I think I would die.) My go-to answer for "I'm booooored." right now is "Go pick up your toys." It's actually quite amazing how quickly he finds something to play then. (Of course, once I say it, I have to enforce it... bummer. But at least once it's cleaned up, he can stay busy a while making a new mess.)

Today, I discovered that sending him outside with a compost bucket to dump doesn't work so well anymore because he's recently developed a horrific fear of our Wyandotte rooster, Cicero. Not that Cicero has ever hurt Jonah, he's just strutted in Jonah's general direction once or twice (and Jonah, of course, screamed and ran, aggravating the problem). So instead of sending him out and hoping he'll get distracted on the way back from the compost pile, I have to give him a pep talk about being the boss, shove him out the door, tears notwithstanding, and then stand on the porch and shout directions "Don't run! Just walk! Stop crying and walk! Swing your stick! He won't hurt you! He's afraid of YOU! Be the boss! Stop running! Walk! Be the boss!" Am I a mean Mommy? Of course. But I know he has to learn to be brave and a nearly-harmless rooster is just the ticket. But it also adds to my insanity factor.

Sigh. So I guess I just have to keep being Mean. Even when I'm tired and it makes me Insane.