When Olivia was a baby and fussed for an hour or two in the evening for no apparent reason, we learned about what some have called "the witching hour"...that period of time where nothing you do helps the situation and the kid just has to cry.
I have a new definition. The witching hour, in this house, Monday through Friday, begins around 10:30 a.m. and ends when all the kids have fallen asleep for their nap.
Today it started with Luke (the baby) getting fussy. He was doing so well...playing nicely and then taking a 90 minute morning nap. But about an hour after eating, he decided that he would not be happy in the exersaucer, on the floor or in the bouncer. So he cried. Because 10:30 is about the time I start getting lunch ready for the kids, and I only have two hands.
I finally had to rescue the crying child from the exersaucer because Olivia had pulled one of the toys off of it and was whacking Luke across the head with it. Jake started crying too, but I'm not sure if it was because he was also assaulted or just because it was, well, after 10:30. Seems there are always boys crying and girls getting meaner after 10:30.
The kids were getting crazy by lunchtime, so I was glad to have them all bound in their chairs. Luke was still crying. I sliced pizza, peeled bananas, filled sippies, wiped faces. Luke still cried. I let the kids out of their chairs and scooped him up. And in the next ten minutes, I received an important phone call, had to save Jake from the girls (twice) and had to put one of them in time-out. Toys were strewn everywhere, the toddler noise was just making Luke MORE upset, the whole situation was making ME upset, and finally, mercifully, it was bedtime.
Yes, we are back to "normal" around here.
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