You know you're a parent when....

Last night I drove to the airport to drop off my brother for his holiday to Tasmania. On the way there and back, there was a radio station asking people to call in and complete the sentence " you know you're a parent when... ".

And boy, did I find out the 'when' this morning. And tuesday night. And wednesday. And currently, while I'm trying to write this post for inspiration (of myself, I think, more than anyone else!).

See, the fella flew out on tuesday morning. So what better a night than tuesday night, for the dog to suffer heart failure and need a vet by wednesday morning, and what better a night than tuesday for the ridiculously cold weather to shatter my back glass door. So that was tuesday.

You know you're a parent when you manage to juggle a sick 35 kg dog, a glazier, a 3 1/2 yr old, an 8 month old, glass everywhere (mental note to self - the glazier knows much easier ways to get the shattered glass out of the door than I do). And still manage to put three meals and two (or lets be honest, 'unlimited') snacks on the table, do washing, clean the house and still manage to knit some at night just to wind down.

Then thursday came, and with it a vet's diagnosis that the dog has heart failure and we now have to watch him for different signs and fluid in the abdomen, and all other crazy things (think: having an elderly parent here that you can't keep inside because they really don't like it!), a trip to the shops with my brother and two children, a trip to the dreaded family assistance office, cooking, cleaning and all that jazz, and then a trip to the airport to drop off said brother at about 8pm.

So last night the kids were a little needy, to say the least. I have slept a total of 6 broken hours, and at 5.30am my son had woken but not managed to pee straight in the dark and instead of the toilet he peed on the floor. Ensue lots of crying for his mum and dad. Maybe because he really wanted to just hop in to bed with me but I am trying really hard not to let him. And then he woke his sister. So here we are, up for nearly 3hours already, and I'm pretty sure I'm running on coffee and the comfort of dairy products (thank you, farmers who still make real butter, it's just so comforting!).

You know you're a parent when you can't actually remember the last night that you did sleep more than 3 hours straight, without one of either of your kiddo's kicking, or crying, or just needing a bottle. And we're all still alive. There's honestly no way I'd let someone who I didn't give birth to do this to me and still love them - or even speak to them. Still deliberately make toast for them, even thought they say they don't want it (and you know that they do and will as soon as you sit and take your first bite), and go out of my way to make sure that they are happy, no matter how low my eyes are hanging out of my head!

Ok, hope you folks out there are having lovely weeks. It's just bucketing down with rain here, and I'm meant to be taking the kids to a farm about an hour out of the city, but we'll have to see about it first I think as it's getting a bit wild and wooly. But hope you all have a great weekend, and maybe sleep longer than 3 or 4 hours at a time!

two little monkeys, that don't like to be in bed!