Crazy Little Thing Called...Life

We have kids. Two of them actually.

They cry, scream or fight 98% of the time.

It’s usually Caitlyn with the crying. It could be any number of things. You took her shoe off perhaps, or she can’t buckle something herself. Maybe she just needs to play with the knife in your hand or take the cap off your too-full bottle of water. It always starts the same- her face gets red, her eyes well up, and she shrieks until she finally dissolves in to hysterical sobs. Ed and I sometimes catch each others eye, and I know the same thought goes through our minds. The words I spoke not long after she was born. “What the hell were we thinking?” Then, as quick as it started, it stops and she moves on to something else. She inevitably gives me her 3-tooth jack-o-lantern smile, and I fall in love with her all over again.

The screaming is all Eddie. It’s his sole form of expressing displeasure. Sometimes it’s a low grunt, like maybe you offended him by asking how his day was (not good apparently) or asked him to please take his peanut buttered bread off of the couch. Other times it’s a long drawn out scream, and for good reason. “No TV tonight Eddie.” , “You have to take a bath tonight Eddie.” He always succeeds in winning me over later though, no matter how bad our day was. He always gives me 5 kisses and hugs for bedtime and tells me “I love you very very very very very MUCH!” (Much, appropriately, is a high pitched shriek)

There are things about each of them that I love so much. The wonderfully perfect shape of Caitlyn’s mouth and the way that when she smiles she does it with her whole face. The curve of Eddie’s nose, and how sweet and caring he is toward his little sister. I’ve heard parents say my whole life how their kids being cute saves them sometimes. What saves them from punishment, or the wrath of Mom though is pure unadulterated love. For all of the stress, and screaming and fighting, what it comes down to is that I love these kids so much. And I want them to be happy.