Two Sugars, A Little Cream

I've become an avowed coffee drinker in the week since we've moved here. Now, don't get too excited-- it's nothing like the gooey high octane stuff I used to drink in college-- in fact, it's decaf. But I'm drinking a lot of it, because there's an awesome coffee house super close to where we live now.

Turns out being a completely stay-at-home mother is a bit more difficult than being a part-time working mother. Today, Jason had barely walked in the door before I snatched his laptop, grabbed the keys, and yelped "Her dinner's on the stove-- back in an hour or so-- bye!"

For one thing, being a SAHM is a lot louder than being a part-time working mother. I've been the one to witness every single one of Eva's tantrums since we moved in, and though I sympathize and understand that she's going through a rough adjustment, an hour and a half or more of screaming is rough on the ears. And, uh, the sanity.

The first few times I really just thought she was inconsolably sad about something, but careful observation has led me to believe that she's learning she can manipulate me into doing her bidding. The fact that most of these tantrums coincide directly with me needing to pay less direct attention to her when it's time to prep things for dinner is a major tip-off, as is the fact that she'll completely stop crying if she wanders by her bowl of seashells, say, or her Elmo doll. She drops it entirely to play happily for a few minutes, gets bored, and it's right back to "MOMMMMYYYYY!!!! AAAUUUGGGHHHHHH!!!"

The worst part is that she screams "HUG!!!! HUG!!!!" at the top of her lungs, making me feel like Mrs. Hannigan's evil protege even though we just spent an the afternoon playing outside, reading books, and counting seashells (her latest obsession).

I'm trying to be calm, and to ignore it, although I think it's going to peak before it gets any better. She still feels insecure in her environment, so it's going to take some time to establish a routine where she'll understand that a little independent play is called for once I'm scraping vegetables.

So, yeah. Coffee and me-- we're best buds for now.

In other news, we should have Internet by the end of the week, and tomorrow I'll be taking Eva to a local story time. Once I can be more reliably online I can check out the group from my neighborhood that gets together every so often from Richmond Mommies.com and get out to a playdate or two. There's also this awesome place, where I may just move in to stay. I mean, seriously-- is that business plan paydirt or what? It's close to campus and offers a ton of cool classes more cheaply than some of the suburban play gym places, so I'm pretty psyched to check it out. And, of course, drink more coffee.

Stay tuned!