Just Like Me

The only reason that I am writing right now is because I want to get it over with. And I don't think any pulitzer prize winning novels or even moderately good short stories were written by someone who was just trying to get it over with. But thats how I feel today.

I also doubt any great writers had to listen to a spoiled 1 year old crying in his bed or a dramatic 2 year old making up stories in her bed. The other day, I heard her making up a story on the couch next to me while she turned the pages of Goodnight Moon.

"Mommy, go away!" she said in her high pitched pretend voice. "And then mommy said, 'That's not nice'" and then I said, "MOMMY! GO! A! WAY!" I am terrified of her teenage years. I am just hoping she pours her passion into theater instead of pouring her passion into yelling at me.

Most of the time taking care of Owen is like floating on your back in a pool while the sun smiles down on you. Most of the time taking care of Josie is like swimming against the current across the atlantic ocean while a shark is circling around you. But Owen has his moments too.

Right now he has entered a phase where he throws his stuffed animals and blankets out of his crib. The first time I discovered the items thrown all over his room, I didn't know whether to get mad at him and take the things out of the room, or call a major league scout since one of the stuffed animals was stuck in between two blinds begging for mercy.

Unlike Josie, Owen eventually gives in and drifts off to sleep, even if his blankets are stuck in a corner on the opposite side of the room. The few times Josie threw things out of her crib, she cried and screamed until I get them for her. After a few times, she stopped doing it. Owen keeps doing it because he doesn't mind sleeping without them.

I don't know which one is smarter, the one who fights like crazy until she gets her way and figures out not do it again or the one who keeps doing it but is laid back and lazy enough not to care. I may not know which one is smarter, but I definitely know which one is more like his mom.