Still the baby...

Jack has had a long day. Today was co-op day, and it's hard on him. He misses his nap and is cranky and miserable by the end of it. I'm really approaching the end of my rope over it. I don't feel like it's respectful to him to drag him around all day like this, not every week. I've known other moms that have had their kids take naps in different rooms or in the car, but Jack doesn't sleep well on the fly. I've decided to leave him home with John as often as possible on Tuesdays, at least in the afternoons, for the rest of the term. We will need to figure out something out before baby comes. The kids love love love the co-op. But I won't be able to do the three hours of teaching to earn their tuition with a 3 year old *and* a baby in tow, that's for sure. It's a predicament.

Anyway, I was reminded today, at almost 3 years of age, how much Jack still needs just Momma sometimes. He's a pretty independent guy, not too concerned about new people or new situations, easily entertained by Daddy or one of the big kids most of the time. But when it's 4:30 in the afternoon, and he's just finally gotten to doze off for 30 minutes in the noisy backseat before we arrive home, and then he has to be rudely awakened by being hauled out of the car seat and into the house through the cold fall rain,,,,he sits kind of dazed on Dad's arm and watches me try to make sense out of the piles of stuff hauled in from the car until I notice him and he crumples up his face and cries for Momma. And we sit curled up on the couch as the big kids disperse into different rooms, and he buries his face in my shirt for a long and quiet time. For a moment, I half expect him to try and nurse and ponder briefly what I would do in that instance. But no, he just takes several minutes to get himself together before moving on to big boy things.