At 5am this morning I heard a little voice. I patted the spot in bed beside me to encourage my co-parent to tend to his daughter and then remembered why it was empty. My husband flew to a conference yesterday. I stumbled out of bed and followed the noise.
Our 2.5 year old was standing up and she was soaking wet. So was her cot. How did this happen? Oh that’s right I forgot to put a nappy on her when I put her to bed last night, She is toilet trained but not at night. She finds not wearing undies an affront to her independence so we put the nappy on right before she hops in bed. Except last night I obviously forgot.
When I stripped her cot I also realised we hadn’t put her mattress protector on when we last changed her sheets. Why? Because at the time neither my husband or I could find it. I stripped her bed, stripped the mattress and got her in a new set of PJs. Chances of getting her back to bed were slim so I brought her into my bed and pretended to sleep.
I am not a morning person – not even close – and I seriously enjoy my sleep. This morning though I had no choice but to succumb to snuggling and cuddling my youngest bundle of girl. And you know what? It was actually heaven. Her giggle, her kisses and her sheer delight at having her mum all to herself was just beyond lovely.
It meant when her older sister woke an hour or so later, she was happy to play by herself whilst I did the same with her older sister.
Once we all got up and commenced getting dressed, fed and out the door chaos had returned. It always does. But before that there was a slice of heaven.
Yesterday at our Women’s Agenda Network breakfast Naomi Simson made the point that no matter how successful or smooth someone’s life looks from the outside it is chaotic and messy.
And it is. This week has been one of the messier ones in our household. I have have had two evening events that I couldn’t have missed ( Helena Morrissey being in Sydney and the launch of Avril Henry’s new book that I am so proud to have contributed to) and a breakfast event I also couldn’t have missed. It coincided with my husband presenting at a conference interstate. None of these fixtures could be avoided so instead we crash through as best we can.
Against that backdrop my laptop died unexpectedly (disastrous when working from home is one strategy to get everything done) and a beloved member of staff resigned.
Frankly messy, doesn’t begin to cover it. Could life be simpler? Yes. But also? It has been memorable, exhilarating and even dotted with unexpected moments of beauty at 5am. There is beauty in the mess.