The Mommyvan

Today Cole had a tough morning. So did I. The only one who seemed to wake up on the right side of the bed was the infant, Noah and I’m pretty sure the reason for that is because he woke up in MY bed (which didn’t bode too well for my sleep pattern last night).

There were tantrums-a-plenty this morning. We’re well into a regressed state on getting dressed. ‘Mommy, I CAAAANNN’T,’ is his new battle cry when I tell him to put his shirt on. Same goes for socks. It’s really getting OLD. Cars not put away, screaming and crying, lack of sleep tallied up to my boiling point quickly being reached. After I yelled at Cole, he continued the fit of crying all the way downstairs as we headed toward the door. Distraction, distraction is what I need to use…right?

‘Hey Cole. You know what? Today you get to ride in your NEW carseat. Isn’t that COOL?!?’
‘Oh YEAH!’ he said. A complete about face. The kid was happy as a clam because he was getting something NEW.

New stuff. Oh it had such power in this house. In fact, Cole had a knack of pointing out everything ‘old’ in our house. The math in his mind was old=no good. One time he told Eric that he was ‘old.’ Luckily Cole answered that in fact, he did not want a ‘new Daddy.’ Phew.

Wondering about new vs. old, I realize what one prefers is a reflection on one feels. For kids, it’s all about the new stuff. Why else would kids always want to stay awake? They’re afraid they’re going to miss something. Something new and exciting. And the toys? They’re all new once they’ve kinda been lost for awhile. I’m hoping to unearth some ‘new’ old things when I finally get around to cleaning out that toy bin.

Us adults tend to like old stuff. Lately I’m trying to savor things in an effort to preserve them. Noah sleeping on my chest, his mouth making that cute little ghost-like shape. Seems like just yesterday it was Cole, but now his new thing is repeating back what me an Daddy tell him. (The funniest is when he tells us ‘Here’s your choice,’ as we often tell him.)

We all get nostalgic about our music, our photos, the TV shows, movies. Everything was so much better ‘back in the day,’ these old things. Thank God for peanut butter and jelly. An enduring classic. I’m crushed my kid hasn’t taken to it yet. But, there’s hope. We’re onto having a hot dog INSIDE a bun. It’s a start. And as I write this, no sh*t, Noah just started to crawl.

I shudder to think that someday, some Mother somewhere will be telling her kids about how great Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers were compared to the new music of the day. Egads. For now, I’m doing my best to brainwash my kid. I’ve started with ‘Hong Kong Phooey’ and we’ll go from there.