Thursday, July 09, 2009

What's up My Sleeve

My son hates short sleeve weather.

It means he has no sleeve to wipe his nose in.

Well, normally, when it comes to short sleeve weather, we’re not thinking about runny noses, but this year its proving to be different. With all the rain we’ve been having my son is proving very ingenious when it comes to finding what to wipe his nose in.

I’ve found streaks on my skirts and on the shoulders of my shirts and even one or two on my bandannas.

He’s used his little sister’s fuzzy blanket and even once his own.

And nothing I say can make him stop.

But that’s the way it is with kids. They sneeze without tissues and take matters into their own hands.

They just don’t get what the hem of a shirt is for if not for wiping their chins.

And obviously, rain boots aren’t as fun as splashing in puddles with sandals that let your feet actually get soaked.

And duh, hair is the perfect place to wipe your hands in after you get them full of ketchup.

G-d is a master planner. He knew what He was doing when he gave these kids ears to stick pennies into and nostrils for beans and little bits of paper.

But runny noses in the cuffs of his shirt get to me. Cos that’s just icky.

Then again, the other night I was up at some unholy hour taking care of a whining baby.

For the last two months every night has been another story and every night I convince myself that it’s only tonight, and that tomorrow we’ll be back on schedule.

Tomorrow never came.

Or maybe it did but I was too tired to notice.

Or maybe it just wasn’t different enough from the night before that it was impossible to differentiate without coffee but I gave up caffeine a long time ago.

So that night was the 62nd night in a row without sleep and I just about had it.

I contemplated letting her cry and then realized it would just wake up my son who would end up crying too and just the thought of that made me cry.

And at four in the morning I found myself sobbing with frustration and tiredness and also so much love for that round little face that only wanted her mommy and guess what?

I’ll tell you a little secret but only if you promise my kids will never know.

Sometimes… Mommies wipe their noses in their sleeves too.

9 comments:

little sheep said...

:-)

Anonymous said...

you are way too cute. i hope you get some sleep SOON!

Chana said...

Ha! That was an amusing read. Good luck taking care of all the children! I'm sure the sleeplessness will wear off eventually (I hope) and if not, your children shall live to appreciate it all.

Also, thanks so much for the nice comment re: my story about the fairy queen.

nmf #7 said...

Aww. Seconding the wish, I hope you get sleep soon!

Zeeskeit said...

Don't worry - "Happy days are coming..." yes, there WILL be a day when you can go to sleep at a normal hour - depending on the baby it happens btw 6mo and a year...

I remember the time that I had both kids in bed by 7 the 3rd day in a row when it finally hit me - "Hey, I can get stuff done and then sleep!" Gosh - it took a long time though!!!!!!

And shirt sleeves is one thing, but how bout the kids who pick their noses and then find creative places for the boogers!?!?!

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

That was cute and amusing. What counts is that your baby loves you and you love your baby. Good luck with your sons nose wiping and good luck getting some sleep and functioning day to day!

Anonymous said...

Hi Tzipi,

I read your book at least 6 times and absolutely loved it. Then I heard you on Chazak and obsessed with you until I had this idea to google you. I sure was glad to see all your posts, blogs, site and stuff. Let me tell you I really gained a lot from getting to know you(:...!) but I have one comment which I hope you won't take wrongly. I have been learning the Chofetz Chaim's works with my husband for a while and could it be that your rants and kvetches against insensitive people could be perceived by some as loshon hara against klal yisroel especially when it is on such a public forum? My husband defended you by saying that if it teaches others to be more sensitive to others it is permissible. Coming from an out of town community where things like this wouldn't happen it bothers me a bit. You could ask a sheilah or maybe you already did. Anyways I love reading your stuff.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I have only recently found your blog and find it very interesting and inspirational. Many of your recent poems leave me teary eyed and very appreciative for what I have. Going through a difficult pregnancy ( with an overactive and hyper creative two year old) you remind me not to complain and focus on the good. You must be an amazing person the way you handle life with such aplomb. My friend had your book sitting around her house for over a year; having lost her father and aunt to cancer she refused to read it since she claims reading should be for pleasure and not depressing. After hearing so much about it she finally glanced through it and perused it later. I must say you totally changed her perspective on cancer and with that influenced her life majorly. Your book has impacted the frum community to such an extend that I've heard people discussing why the ban on doing shidduchim with cancer survivors and their perfect kids-Kol Hakovod!
I was wondering whether it would be possible for you to email me the part of your blog that you deleted once you published your book we have 2 copies of your book so that wouldn't be the prob.
I am planning on following your blog and continue gaining much.

J.A.P. said...

anonymous #1- I actually did ask a shaila and it was okay for me to print all these things. As a whole I tried to be very positive about the help and support I received when I was ill, but I felt it had to stay truthful to what it felt like for me to be on the receiving end of some of the comments and actions of the less sensitive people around me. It was a major stipulation about publishing the book. I refused to have it published with the honesty edited out of it and surprisingly there was hardly any controversy over it. The people we needed to ask were very for it being published in this way.

Anonymous #2- There isn't really a lot edited out of the book- it's not like I can send you full chapters of parts that are missing- its more like lines that were added or deleted. Even I can't tell you most of the missing stuff cos its snippets throughout the book. Like for instance there was a refrain going through the book where I kept calling myself a stinker- the publisher changed stinker to various different words like monster or baby or creep. If there were anything juicy I'd send it to you, but right now I can't really remember anything offhand they cut out that would have made a huge difference to the reader.

Everyone else- there's another post coming eventually, but lately I'm just too busy to get here.