I am so excited to join the FCMB team as a contributor! I’m Jackie and I became a Fairfield County resident about five and a half years ago. My oldest daughter was one when we moved up from the city, and three years later we welcomed another little girl, who is now four. In June, my girls and I moved out of our town to another town in Fairfield County. We took our Miniature Schnauzer with us and added two kittens to our crew in October. My girls are so happy to be in the same town as their cousins and aunt (my sister). I was a stay-at-home mom for five and a half years, which was what I had planned. A year ago I decided that I was ready to work again, so I started my own business, Mindful Mama Care. I love the new mommies that I work with and am excited to continue to see my business grow. So, these days I navigate around being a single mother to two little girls, while trying to work, and also make sure our house doesn’t warrant a trip from Child Protective Services.
There really is no typical day in our house, there is, however, a typical morning! For about a year, my youngest has been joining me in the middle of the night. She puts a foot on the frame and almost catapults her little body over mine and is immediately fast asleep in whatever position she lands in. Often, this is mostly on top of me. I really don’t mind this. In fact many times I watch her sweet sleeping face and kiss her little eyelid.
I do mind having company in bed with me when a 5 am or earlier wakeup call is included. Coincidentally this very event happened yesterday morning. “Colette, unless you have livestock to tend to, this is an unacceptable time to wake up,” I told her hoping that she would take it in and fall back into a deep sleep. Instead, she giggled and asked when she could get the kitties. I wondered if she got my wit. She rolled her body over mine and proceeded to let our two kittens out of the basement. I immediately heard their desperate cries for food. There is no amount of food that satisfies them. Colette does not know how to get the metal top off the cans, so she stands in the kitchen laughing and slamming them together while the kittens frantically weave in and out of her legs crying and clawing for food.
I lay in bed grappling with the right and wrong of the situation. I know morally the right thing to do is to save the kittens from the torment of watching their food source be slammed in front of their faces but I cannot muster the energy to get out of bed. Just as I am telling myself that they will survive and it’s ok to drift back to sleep for a few minutes, I feel a wet nose on my hand. My 11 year-old Mini Schnauzer is patiently waiting on the side of my bed to be let outside. Walter is both adorable and very tolerant. He doesn’t ask for much and this is why I got out of bed and followed him downstairs to let him out. In the kitchen there was a very interesting scene unfolding. Colette had both kittens under her arms while she lay on the floor consoling them. I stepped over them to let Walter out. A totally normal morning…I think!?
What I have learned is that motherhood can be very funny at times, and I always try to look at things from this angle, as it keeps me going! What keeps you going every day?
