Naptime Blog

Juliana is a HUGE help around the house.  She keeps her brothers occupied while I am busy.  She helps me when I am short-handed (which happens often with 3 babies under 2!).  She is very good with the boys and loves them dearly.  But she is always in the middle of something she isn’t supposed to be into.  For instance, I am always finding various concoctions in my refrigerator that she puts together as a snack.  She took various sprinkles, lemonade or some other juice, milk and cookie crumbs and made some frozen ice pop thing last week.  Gross.  Actually, I didn’t even have to look in the freezer to know she made something.  There were crumbs and puddles everywhere in my kitchen:  cookie crumbs, sprinkles, milk and juice puddles; spoons and bowls were in the sink, and when I went to get ice out of the freezer, my freezer door began to leak some half liquid/half solid drips.  This was all done in the few minutes that I was folding laundry in the next room.

I can always tell exactly where Juliana has walked in the house, and this is obvious by the various drops of her items around the house:  books, pencils, crayons, dolls, school papers, snack wrappers (and she has been told a million times to eat only at the dining room table) and more.  Yes, I try my best to be aware of what she is doing at every moment, but let’s face it:  I have three other kids (little guys who eat and poop a lot!), a house to keep and a job to do from home.  I always try to be sure I have an eye on her, but she still manages to get into trouble. 

I enjoy having Juliana home from school.  I enjoy having someone to talk to that uses complete sentences, I enjoy having that extra pair of hands which enables us to get out and about, I enjoy lounging with the kids and not having to rush to make a bus or be on a schedule to get her off the bus after school, and I enjoy not having to do homework and projects and all the extracurricular activities that come along with the school year.  I also very much enjoy my daughter’s company and having her home.  But just as that final day of school was about to end, I cringed, wondering how am I going to manage for two and a half months with her getting into everything, all day, every day?

I know I will have to be more vigilant with watching every move she makes.  I know I have to monitor her every activity with more of a watchful eye.  I know we will have a great summer with swimming, playing, taking trips and entertaining.  I just hope Juliana manages to stay out of too much trouble this summer!

Jennifer Nevadomski
Paul’s Wife
Mom to: Juliana, 8 – Louis and Anthony, 24 months – Joseph, 10 months
www.nevaland.com