So, I spoke too soon in my last post. I thought that since my kids usually sleep 10 hours a night, I would be in the clear having them sleep at 7pm. Waking up at 5am was perfectly cromulent in my book.
But, I forgot Gamera was still coughing a lot and she woke up herself and Cookie Monster at 3:30am. Thus, Glow Worm is my current favorite child because he slept 12 hours and is the only one of us completely switched over.
I was an idiot and after sleeping four solid hours, woke up from Gamera’s coughing and never went back to sleep because Facebook FOMO is apparently a real thing in my life and every time I was about to finally fall asleep, Gamera would have a coughing fit I would attend to with essential oils. It worked most of the time, but it’s a somewhat shorter term effect than say, codeine. So needless to say, when I picked up my phone at 11:30pm, I chose poorly.
Although, after a few nights of kids going to bed early and then waking up at 3:30 or 4:30am, they have now settled into going to bed around 8pm and then waking around 6am. Unfortunately, Glow Worm seems to be napping at school (shakesfist) so it makes him sleep later – closer to 9 or after, but I guess all in all, still earlier than when they were sleeping back in the US.
I know. Utterly fascinating treatise on my children’s sleep habits.
I, too, have been much better about sleeping longer hours and am no longer as FB FOMO-y.
So, here’s the weird thing. I thought I would have all this free time and be all refreshed and everything, but I’m not! I’m still exhausted at the end of the day. I forget how the heat just saps the strength and will to live out of me and by 8pm, I’m done.
The mornings are frantic as I get the kids ready and cajole and nag Gamera because she really is the slowest human on earth. But I realized this morning that I need to take my own advice that I gave a friend, recently, and just STFU because we’re still getting to Gamera and Glow Worm’s school about 15-20 minutes early, and I just don’t need to be so mean and yelly at my baby girl.
I always forget that she is still very small and when I yell at her, she gets more and more insecure at school and becomes less of who she is. Normally, she is very independent and secure and doesn’t care what other people think or do. But when I yell at her right before school (mostly for her to hurry up. I swear, sometimes, I think her full name is Hurry Up, Gamera!), she becomes more insecure and tends to follow the crowd more – even if she doesn’t like it.
Anyhow, this is all just to say that I need to chill out.
Y’all will have to remind me and check in on me. This is very difficult, this shutting up business.
Then, when we get home around 5:30pm, there is a mad rush to eat dinner, bathe (because OMG you HAVE to bathe everyday because it is so hot and sticky and gross and YUCK) and prep tomorrow’s lunch for Cookie Monster and Glow Worm and then go to bed.
I usually have the kids zone out to iPad even though I told myself they should watch local TV. But I figured, after a full day of perhaps understanding 80-90% Chinese, maybe it’s ok if they watch Pat and Jen’s Minecraft Channel in English for an hour.
And then, Gamera coughs all night (although the episodes are getting fewer) and I have to wake up and pee every hour. And then we start anew in the morning.
Since it’s Wednesday afternoon here already, I think I’ve started to get into a pretty good rhythm. I’m bummed my cousin left to go back to Kaohsiung because it was SUPER handy to have him bring dinner while I got the kids ready for bed. But I guess I can do this grown up thing by myself.
On top of the heat sapping the life blood out of me, the mosquitos literally are sucking the life blood out of me. I had meant to bring bug spray of the industrial DEET variety since Not Another DB MBA gave me two BOXES (still bitter about being tricked) but I forgot them. So I only had my essential oil sprays. sigh
Look, I’m all for natural shit and essential oils and everything (I’m known to say, “There’s an oil for that” at almost any occasion – my friends are saints), but ONLY if they work. And for me, the Terrashield by DoTerra is NOT working. (It’s working pretty well for my kids, but not for me.)
I have always been everyone’s favorite bug repellent because when I’m around, mosquitos will bite me. Well, perhaps my pregnant blood is now even MORE delicious because I swear, I look like I recently had the measles.
I’m covered in welts (especially my legs and knees and calves and thighs and EVERYTHING IN THE LOWER EXTREMITIES) and I have been scratching because I’m too tired and hot to find the lavender roll-on I made that works really well against itching but SO HARD TO GET BECAUSE SO TIRED.
Even after Irish Twins gave me her 40% DEET bug spray and I liberally sprayed all over myself (and choked on the fumes), I still got bit. Lots. And then, somehow, more bites showed up when I woke up. Maybe there’s a really well-fed mosquito stealth-moding in my room. BASTARD.
I pretty much need to put myself under industrial strength pesticides (you know, the kind that shouldn’t touch your skin or any part of your body you would like to not twitch or foam) and roll around in the death juice because OMG, I hate mosquitos.
At least my children haven’t really been food. (Gamera has one bite, but that’s it.)
Hapa Papa is sending the bug spray and my hat (that I also forgot) with a friend when they come this Sunday so hopefully, my bites will no longer be an issue.
Add to this that my children have really heavy backpacks (mostly Glow Worm and Cookie Monster because the fancy bento boxes I got them are heavy but keep their food warm/cold since the schools have no refrigeration or microwaves) and that I end up carrying them for the kiddos during the long walk from the MRT to the schools, and all the groceries I carry or food I have to bring home, or the water I’m lugging around, I’M EXHAUSTED.
Did I mention that I’m hugely pregnant? Or huger than I was (thanks to all my constant eating).
Anyhow, I think that’s it for now. I have a bunch more posts in my brain but I have been lazy and lounging and quite frankly, enjoying doing nothing more than occasional grocery shopping and food prep, and eating. Lots and lots of eating.
Don’t worry. I will do a food post soon. (Be warned though, I suck at taking food pics and describing food taste. But I will try and be diligent about what restaurants I ate at and what I ordered.)
See you soon!