He Said, She Said

This morning, it was pouring outside.  We also woke up to a child who had wet their bed, and had a leak in our ceiling.  When it pours, it rains.  Phil threw the wet sheets and pj's in the wash, and put a towel and a bucket on the couch under the leak to catch the water before running out the door to work.  What a man.  Alexander saw the bucket and said "Oh, today it's just raining inside the house?"  Basically, yes.

When I was breastfeeding John-Paul all those years ago, it would drive me absolutely crazy when someone would ask to hold him, then as soon as he started crying, say "He must be hungry!"  I would take back that baby that I knew wasn't hungry because I had just fed him, and complain to Phil later.  I don't even know why this bothered me so much back then, but I guess it felt like they were telling me, a new mother, that I didn't know what he needed.  Fast forward to the 6th baby, and I'm a lot thicker skinned and less needy for validation on motherhood.  John-Paul, now 11, was sitting next to Declan in the car the other day, and Declan started crying.  John-Paul said "I think he's hungry" and Phil, knowing how much this (used to) bother me replies "He's not hungry!!"  I added, in my postpartum haze, "It's ok John-Paul, he's a baby. They cry.  He's not hungry because I just ate him".

We have a large canvas photo of the four kids at Disney World in 2011.  It's one of my favorite Maggie moments.  Anyway, Alexander likes to look at the picture and the kids tell him that's when they went to see Mickey Mouse, and all the other characters.  Alexander says "I want to go!" and things get dicey.  The other day, Xander looked up at that picture, put his hands on his toddler hips and said "Hmmph.  I still not in that picture!"

Last week, we were all on our way to a medical supply store to get a new breast pump for me because my old one isn't able to function on batteries anymore.  On the way to the store (with all the kids - why are we such gluttons for punishment?) they kept asking what we were going to get.  Phil was just trying to be vague so we didn't have to explain the ins and outs of my breast milk production, said "We're just going to get something for Mom."  Of course, as soon as the kids realized he was being vague, they knew he was withholding information, and that means there's a secret to be found out!  They kept asking, and so I just said "We're getting a breast pump."  To which Maggie replied, "Oh, yeah, my friend at school has one of those.  She's allergic to sugar."