Will work for food.

Today was a busy day, but good day. Baby B was up for the day around 5am, and my darling hubby got up with him and let me sleep another hour. It was a glorious hour.

Then it was showers, getting the kids dressed, and pack them into the car. I'd forgotten to get the snack for WG's preschool class, so it was off to the grocery to round up the last items I needed for this morning's photo shoot and getting the snacks that four year old's love. (Apparently the strawberries were a big hit).

Danielle Anthony and I spent the morning shooting the images for two articles that will run in this year's Premier Baby and Child. We were working with food and products this morning and it was great fun. I was styling apple sauce and yogurt, trying to create those lovely peaks you see in magazine photos.

Then, it was off to pick up the WG and we all headed home. I've been writing all afternoon and hope to be down to the last seven or eight articles before I hit the hay tonight. Mel is up at 4am for a flight tomorrow so it will be an early evening for us. And then tomorrow will be a big day.

The morning is mine all mine! It happens so infrequently that I plan to relish it. I have a sitter while WG is in school, so I'll be kidless. I plan to grocery shop, go to the bank, the post office and cleaners. But while I do it, I'll be listening loudly to the radio and I'll be going at 10 times my normal speed. It's going to be great.

After school WG has playdate with her favorite friend, a swim lesson with another buddy and we'll probably grab a salad and a pizza for dinner. Maybe we'll curl up and watch Aladdin together in the afternoon - she's been dying to do that. I'm looking forward to it.

Warm bodies.

What is it about kids that makes them so cute and cuddly? I don't think it's just because they're tiny. I think it's also that they are so warm. I'm sitting on the sofa next to the WG right now. She's watching TV and I'm working away on the laptop. And her little body is like a radiator. Her little arms and legs feel like a crackling fire on a winter day. Hmmmm.... Delightful.

Almost done!!!

You'd think that the last thing I'd want to do is write more. But I'm just so darn excited that I have to let you all know! I'm just 14 articles away from being finished with the 2007-2008 issue of Premier Baby and Child! Yeah! It's going to be a great issue. If I give too much away Robyn will kill me. But suffice it to say, it's chock full of gorgeous nurseries, amazing parties and really helpful medical and parenting advice. Wish me luck on the homestretch!

Multi-Tasking for a Cause

Right now, I am standing at the kitchen counter. I’m checking emails on my laptop, listening to the WG play in the family room, watching Baby B finger feed bananas and diced carrots and listening to the hum of the lawn mower outside. I’m also frying okra (WG’s favorite), making mashed potatoes, setting the table and boiling eggs for breakfast tomorrow morning. Oh yes, and I’m catching up on the day’s news on NPR, opening the mail and doing laundry.

It seems that many of my days end this way – multi-tasking and rushing way through the dinner hour. I wish that I could slow down and enjoy my husband, my kids and myself during this time of day, but it seems to be at odds with the very concepts of being a mother. And I hear from the moms I interview for the magazines that it only gets busier. As the kids get older, I know they’ll be homework to check and after school events to make life even more complicated.

As I look around, I realize that I am the only one multi-tasking. WG is marching around the living room playing the flute. Bennett is discovering spitting with squeals of delight. And Mel is enjoying taking care of his lawn.

I guess that’s what it means to be a mother. We take on the craziness – the hurry scurry of life – so that our families can enjoy the simple pleasures. It’s because I’ve had a million things going at once that they have a home cooked meal at our dinner table, the time for stories and cuddling and clean, fresh pajamas every night. And as I stand here, I’m happy to take on the chaos for my family if it means they enjoy the gift of an average evening at the Williams house.

Rub a Dub Dub. Two Kids in the Tub.

As it turns out, putting your kids in the tub is a great way to get some work done. Right now, I'm taking a break from writing the nursery articles in the upcoming edition of Premier Baby and Child to blog, and my two little ones are splashing together in the tub. Baby B is in his little stability seat, and he's splashing and kicking in the water. He's finally managed to grab a rubber duck and he's pretty proud of himself. WG is playing with a family of ducks and singing to them. Her two ducks are currently embraced in a pretty heavy lip-lock. As usual, one of our Disney movies is being re-enacted.

Sometimes, I wish I wasn't working through moments like this. That I could take more time to just sit and watch them. Because they sure are funny. But I'm grateful for the little moments just sitting beside them. That I get to sit cross-legged on the floor with my laptop, doing something that I really love, without missing the joy of a mid-morning weekday bath.

We'll see how I feel later today, though. Somehow, I need to fit in two interviews, five articles, a meeting, and my husband's reception from work. Did I mention that the WG is home (it's a teacher work day) and Baby B has an unexplained fever? Right now, there's wash humming away in the laundry room, the kids are happy, the words are flowing for me and I feel very much in control. We'll see what a few hours will bring....

Hello World!

Hello, all! So, this is what blogging feels like? Hmmm...I'm not sure I feel any different. I thought my family, my friends and readers of our magazines - Charlotte Baby & Child and Premier Baby & Child might enjoy keeping up with my babyfied world. If not, then I can print these, save them for my kiddos, and they'll know what mom was thinking when they were tiny tots and I was the most interesting person in their world.

Which brings me to a thought that I've had recently. My daughter, WG, is four now. Four is an age that brings parents to questions of discipline that they've been previously able to avoid. My best friend (and parenting hero) Allison said something the other day that got me thinking. She said that every time she has to discipline her son, she tries to imagine her words coming from the most important person in her life. That really made me stop and think. Every time I say something to WG, I am saying it as this all-important being -- a mother figure that meets her every need and controls her universe. Wow. That means every time I make a comment about someone's behavior, the foods we should eat, or even the weather it's getting filed away in her tiny mind as incredibly important information.

Although I felt very connected to the importance of my role as a mother before I had children, I find it's very easy to loose that sense now. Buried in mountains of laundry and wrist deep in diaper cream, I find myself a bit numb from the blocking and tackling. But Allison's words were a wonderful reminder to stop and look at myself, my words and my behavior through my child's eyes. To her, I'm beautiful, funny, powerful and smart. At least until she's five.


(Me, reading to the WG before her fourth birthday party)