Monday, January 19, 2009

I Have A Dream*

It is a simple dream, but a dream nonetheless.

Every morning I wake up, I nurse the baby and paw at the snooze alarm repeatedly, wishing it earlier or later—I’m never sure which. The dappled sunlight from the closed blinds begins to creep under my drooping eyelids as I drift between awake and asleep.

Finally I resign myself to the fact that I need to get up and haul the baby and myself toward the bathroom. She sits in her Papasan chair and plays while I slink into the shower.

Moments after the stream of water hits my head the bathroom door opens and at least one of my two ambulatory children enter the room. Maybe this morning it’s M, shuffling into the room with one thing on her mind: Mommy? Can I have a cheese?

Just one! I mutter through the water I’m trying to keep out of my eyes and mostly off of my face. She retreats and, as usual, leaves the door open.

Shut the door! I yell and I can see in my mind’s eye all the precious warm air that makes me luxuriate in the shower sidling out the door behind my eldest child. She returns and closes the door without additional conversation.

Moments later the door reopens. It’s K this time and he’s shirking off his sleeper pajamas as he lumbers in, leaving the door open behind him. This time I waver between telling him to shut the door and not wanting him to pee on the floor because of my interruption of his task.

I wait for the stream to end and order the door shut. Okay, okay!

He exits and the door, mercifully, closes behind him.

I feel my body start to relax again as I wind up my shower duties. It is about this time that the door reopens and M hops in, energized by the score of a slice of processed cheese.

Naturally, she forgets to close the door. The once tropical air in the room is now tepid at best.

Close the door! I utter the refrain in hopes that I won’t immediately have goose bumps when I step out the shower door.

Later, I may need to use the bathroom for its other purpose. Again, I will not be alone. Granted, I will often have the baby with me for safety reasons, but that’s just a given with an infant. It’s the 6-year-old and the 4-year-old audience I could do without. I had mistakenly believed by the time the kids were this old I might have a shred of privacy in the bathroom, but alas it does not seem to be so.

This audience often has complaints about the scent, to which I say who invited you here anyway?

On the weekends, most of the time I have a respite from the stream of inquiries while I am in the shower, but it still seems to be a popular time to use the toilet or brush teeth nonetheless.

Perhaps I need to remember to push the lock button on the door.

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*My apologies for the poor timing of this post and the use of Dr. King's great words for a frivolous post.

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Anonymous said...

hehe I never get to shower, bath, use the washroom alone. I figure another 7-8 years from now I can start dreaming that dream.

The Southern Mint Julep said...

Cute site Chelle. I'm going to have to send this to my daughter-in-law. She is a stay at home mom with twin boys (17 months). I still laugh about the picture she took of my poor son coming home from work, running in the house because he needed to go to the bathroom so bad, and the two boys crawling as fast as possible behind him. I'll have to find that one and post it for a good laugh. Be sure and check later today.

Oh, and BTW, it does not end after the children are gone. Now I always have three doggies in the bathroom with me. I have a small bathroom also. This is Onnie's person time for being brushed -- at least she thinks so.

ewe are here said...

The running in and out while I'm trying to have a quiet shower drives me insane... and I can't see the traffic in there ending anytime soon.

sigh

Jeff and Charli Lee said...

Just wait until your kids are teens and they empty all the hot water before you get to take your shower, and you end up taking an "emergency" shower in ice cold water. Good times.

Anonymous said...

I'm sitting here shivering because I just got in from a walk & reading your post I was from one moment to the next feeling warm and soothed to cold and shivering again. Definately lock the door, that is what I would do.

Kara said...

Privacy.......something mom's never really get. Someday!

Anonymous said...

Sweetie, my two kids are 12, 10, and 3 and I STILL have yet to take an uninterrupted shower. Sigh.

for a different kind of girl said...

I anticipate that I'll perhaps get one week when I get to shower in peace, and that might be the week before my kids decide I'm old and need to be in a nursing home. Until then, I'm just in a race to get the hot water before it's all gone!

Janet said...

I used to regularly emerge from the shower to an audience. Now I (mostly) shower in peace. The day will come, sooner than you think. Until then, deep breaths friend.

Jen S. said...

Sigh. To shower without an audience. It is a sweet dream, indeed.

Binky said...

I get stressed out just reading that. But, hey, at least they aren't all in there with you commenting on your big zebras ;)

Damselfly said...

Ah, yes. I had to lock the door today just to go to the bathroom, after Fly stole the toilet paper and left a trail down the hall....

 
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