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I think my wife and I may have made a terrible mistake.
The balance of power in our household has shifted from the adults to the kids. We thought we were so good and talented at being parents that we decided to have three kids. Never stopping for a moment to realize that there were only two of us. This stupid move on our part coupled with Claudine's bizarre work schedule had pretty much guaranteed that we won't sleep for the next two and a half years.
Claudine is on call tonight so it is just me versus them tonight. I just put all three kids to sleep. They didn't go in the order that I had originally planned but at least they are all asleep. For now. I know that little fidget of an infant will be waking up sometime in the next few hours. The problem with that is there may or may not be any lactating boobs in the house when she wakes. Claudine may return during the night... or not. It all depends on the whim of the uteri (uteruses?) of her pregnant patients. I have a refrigerator full of breast milk ready to go, if needed. To be fair, the refrigerator is not full of breast milk. I mean, she's good, but she's not that good. But I have enough to get me by until morning.
But this is a weird time for our family. Annabel requires constant attention just because she is an infant. Bobby, at two and a half, is going through a little rebellion that we feel stems from having a new sister in the house. He is seriously testing us and his limits. Jake is being very good at helping out and fending for himself when the need arises. But he is also very good at giving the guilt about it afterwards. Ack. Calgon take me away! Ancient Chinese secret, eh? Wow. Same brand, two wildly different ad campaigns.
I'm sure that things will get better. I went insane with the last two kids before things improved. I'm sure the same thing will happen here. But I am left with the uneasy feeling that we have tipped the scales in their favor. As they get older and easier to handle physically, I think they will realize that they have the upper hand in terms of the numbers and will seek to exploit it. They will divide and conquer. They will hunt in packs.
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