Saturday 24 November 2012

Noise and mess

When we're out and about with the kids, I often get told that I "must be busy" or "have my hands full".

Having three young children to me at the moment is noise and mess. The noise and the mess is constant.

As I write this, the three of them are sitting on the living room floor surrounded by toys "sailing on a boat". There is crap scattered everywhere. They must have hearing difficulties because they seem to need to yell at each other, even Darbs who can't really converse yet. I'm not stopping them even though the noise and the mess is getting louder and bigger because they're not hassling me.

Darbs isn't pulling at my dress and screaming at me. Lil isn't asking is she can paint, why can't she paint, it's just not fair. And Goose isn't asking for something to eat. This usually happens similataneously.

This non-hassling of me will probably be lucky to last five minutes. Then I will have to nag them to tidy up the mess for half an hour before I crack and tidy it up myself. But for those five minutes it's worth it. Kind of.

In the game they're playing Goose is playing the mum and I almost feel sorry for her, Lil is whining "Muuuuuummmmmm, the crocodile is going to eat me. Muuuuuummmmmmmm I'm scared. Muuuummmmmm."


This stage of parenting is intense. The drama, the fights, the neediness. Darbs is into everything - he "hides" things, it took me two days to find my shoes in the bottom kitchen drawer; he drags the garbage bin around the house and in a moment of silence I found him eating mouldy bread out of it (it's good for his immune system, right?). For Lil is everything is drama – "Oh no! My pencil is broken, my pencil is broken! What am I going to do?" she wails. For Goose everything is physical, she runs and jumps and tackles and falls and yells and rants.

There are two moments in the day, one when the girls are at school and Darbs is asleep. It's quiet and peaceful and I tidy up the mess, sweep up the sand. Then before long the whirlwinds arrive home and the mess returns along with the noise. Then that night they're finally asleep and it's peaceful again and I'm too exhausted to tidy up the mess or talk to Skip and nod off on the couch instead.

The boat has now been abandoned and they're a gang of vampires, chasing each other around the lounge room squealing. Darbs is pulling on my dress again.

They tell me I will miss the noise and mess one day, I'm not so sure.

They just spent five minutes on a leaky boat. I'm lucky just to keep afloat. 

5 comments:

  1. Oh I hear your pain!

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  2. Mine are all grown and yes, I do miss the mess, the toys, the sweet, imaginative games and being "Mummy". These days fly by so quickly.

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  3. I only have Miss O but I could feel this place and those emotions.
    Unfortunately without a sibling I am currently the onestuck being the baby on the boat while Miss O is the Mum. I get told off a lot for not crying enough or not yelling Mum enough. Apparently it is something kids HAVE to do. Go figure!

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  4. You have just so accurately described my life, the noise oh God the noise - one day I think my brain will explode, the mess, the bloody mess everyday all day!
    The constant whining and whinginess - I dread being caught in the kitchen because they will ask for food or drinks just because they obviously feel I need something to do. Ahh, I know I will miss it when it is gone .....

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  5. Oh Corinne, you have described my household to a tee here. It IS intense and throughly exhausting isn't it?? And I still stand by the opinion that it is the fighting/arguing/bickering that REALLY does your head in. When they're getting along and being noisy, I have no problem with it at all. But the whinging and wrestling and crying, aaarrrggghhh! Love the pic of your little sailors in their leaky boat, gorgeous! xo

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