Sleep

“Sleep when the baby sleeps.”

Ah yes, the advice I have tried to take every time Ben closes his eyes for a nap, especially the afternoon nap. Prioritize, they say. And so I have. Eat/feed, shower/change, sleep. When the laundry is bulging out, I do laundry. When the dishes are over flowing, I do dishes. When the food in the house is down to condiments, I go grocery shopping. And we have managed to fit in a few things for ourselves for our own sanity and healthy relationship. Everything else can wait, and most everyone understands that.

So why then is there always someone who gets all upset and pissed off that I have not sent them a thank you card? Believe me, every single thing we have been given, I am very grateful for. The first round of thank you cards was sent out BEFORE we packed the house, went through a fiasco at the last minute and were almost homeless, moved to our new house (whew), unpacked as fast as possible, and then had Ben and began our lives as new parents, sleeping when the baby sleeps. But the second round of thank you cards, the ones for things that arrived after our shower and during all the hecticness of the summer and early fall, (for everyone that falls under that category, thank you for the things you gave to us- I really do appreciate it all.) have yet to be written.

Why? Because I AM SLEEPING WHEN THE BABY IS! If you have a problem with that, come do my laundry, do the dishes, unpack the rest of the house, and for goodness sake, would someone please evict all the spiders and remnant junk from the last owner! so I can write thank you cards.

Or perhaps I will sleep, with gratefulness in my heart for all those people who gave us things that have made this transition so much easier.