Grandma and her “moments”…

Remember how I told you about forgetting to put on my pants?  Well, I did something kind-of-sorta-just-as forgetful this past weekend.  But this time, it was in the wee hours of the morning… and it involved my little, innocent and unsuspecting Henry.

I’ll chalk this one up to inexperience and exhaustion, but now I’m beginning to count my forgetful moments.  I remember hearing once that if you know you are forgetful, then you can’t be senile.  I hope this is correct.

OK.  It was 3:15 am.  I know this because I had been staring at the clock since I had hit the bed at midnight.  My husband Barry and I were babysitting overnight for Audrey’s 4 boys, and our “charge” had begun at 1:00 pm.  I must say that we had done a pretty good job of entertaining and supervising 4 little guys all afternoon, at dinner, early evening, bath and bedtime.  We had attended a  soccer game, gone apple picking with our two sons and their families, made pasta at our house for dinner and then headed back to Audrey’s for baths and jammies and bedtime.

All went swimmingly well.  Barry and I actually felt accomplished. !!!!  (These 4 exclamation points are for 4 boys under the age of 4!!!!   There, I did it again!)

Anyway.  It got to be midnight, and Barry and I knew that we had to be up at 6:00 am, get all the kids fed and dressed and in the car for the ride to the the big CVS Annual 5K race in downtown Providence.  William and Alexander were going to be running in the first race… and William has been talking about getting a trophy for a year.  He had just missed this huge honor last year…

This getting up early thing is probably what caused my temporary insomnia.   You know the feeling… I am responsible for the whole of this adventure, and what if I oversleep.  No amount of reassurance from Barry could help.  And I just lay there.  All night.  Watching the clock.

Audrey had told me that Henry would wake up for a bottle at around 3:00 am.  He did.  I was actually excited to have something to do.  But I was also beyond the point of exhausted.  So I tiptoed to the bathroom to fill Henry’s bottle with water.  I headed back to the bedroom in total darkness.  I scooped 2 spoonfuls of formula into the bottle.  I picked up my little darling, changed his diaper, got him all snuggled in his favorite blanket… and settled into the pillow for a nice, calm feeding.

As I tipped the bottle toward his mouth, I felt this wave of liquid cover me.  Cover Henry.  Cover the floor.

Henry was shocked.  He began to scream.  Barry woke up.

I turned on the light.  And there, next to the bottle, was the nipple.  Yes, I had forgotten to put the nipple on the bottle.

I quickly rescued Henry with a jammie change.  Barry helped towel everything up.  I changed my clothing and the pillow case. The feeding proceded as planned.

I did sleep after that.  For two whole hours.  We did get the kids to the race.  Audrey and her husband met us there (they had left New York City at 4:00 am just to make this race).

And William did win his trophy.  In a field a dozens of little boys, William crossed that finish line tied with two other little guys for 1st place.

And I will never forget that moment.  Ever.

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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6 Comments

  1. 9.22.08
    Heather said:

    Oh my Sharon, I think you sound just like me when I was in that new mommy phase of life. So don’t fret too much over forgetting…it’s amazing what a lack of sleep and a mind all keyed up will do to you 🙂

  2. 9.22.08

    First of all, I admire you for watching “4” little boys overnight. I hate that feeling of watching the clock and knowing that you will be exhausted in the morning if you don’t get to sleep. I can just picture that bottle feeding and had to laugh…almost choking on my lunch! I hope you are rested up. Yay for William! It was worth having No sleep after all!

  3. 9.22.08
    Chrissy said:

    Everytime I watch the clock at night, I start counting how many hours of sleep I could be having if I’d just go to sleep already. Great job with the four boys though! Sounds like things turned out okay. 🙂

  4. 9.22.08
    Miche said:

    hahahh! that is so funny! Poor you and Henry, but gosh that is a great funny story to tell him when he is bigger!

  5. 9.23.08
    C said:

    Oh, Sharon! That was such a funny story! Oh, poor you…and poor Henry! At least you can laugh about it though! 🙂 You’ve got lots of fantastic stories to look back on and tell the grandkids later on! XO

  6. 9.23.08
    Lisa said:

    Oh my goodness! The fact that you did all that is amazing. I am worn out just reading. The good thing is Henry will never remember that moment, and William will always remember his!

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