"Go to bed, go to sleep..."

   Joe is still out working on the tender. It's keeping him really busy and it's pretty decent money. We see him occasionally--he got home around 2:30 Saturday morning and then had to be back on the boat late Sunday morning. Even for that short amount of time, it was REALLY good to see him. I, for one, am very much looking forward to him being done with this fishing gig.

    All of you out there who are military spouses and deal with your husband or wife off on deployment, or those of you single parents, my hat is totally off to you. I pray that you have a way to fairly regularly get a break from your little darlings. I know during these past couple of weeks, I would have gone out of my wits, living on a boat with my offspring, if I didn't have grandparents and friends to go visit and share my kiddos with them!

    I'm really just venting here. It hasn't really been that bad. It's been an incredible summer here in Juneau with not a whole lot of rainy days, so being able to just be outside helps a lot. My little crew continue to love playing on the dock and the whole area around the harbor with their friends, and I meet new people all the time. What other cruisers have said is true: having kids is a great way to meet new people--whether my kids meet your kids, your dog, or you first, I know I'm going to meet you at some point!

     I want to end this with a totally tongue-in-cheek song I remember hearing when I was a kid. In Anchorage, there was a summer concert series at the Loussac Library and one concert was by a group called the Barbed Wire Twisters. It was two or three ladies who sang folksy songs and a lot of them were just funny. Somehow, my mom and her friend ended up talking to these ladies after the concert (perhaps having them autograph the cassette of their music. Cassette?!) after everyone else had left and they did an impromptu encore of a song that was on their album but they didn't play at their concert. I don't remember all the different verses, but it was hilarious then, and way more so now that I'm a mom. If anyone somehow has heard of this group and knows the rest of the lyrics to the song that I'm calling "Mother's Lullaby," please fill in the rest of them for me!

(To the tune of "Lullaby and Goodnight")

"Go to bed, go to sleep, I've had enough of your bull$%#*

Close your eyes, you little monsters,

Or I'll blister your behind.

I'll explain: you're a pain when you're tired and cranky

I get cranky sometimes too, like when I'm sick and tired of you

No, you can't have a drink

No, I won't read you one more story

I've had it up to here

I could use a drink myself!

(To the tune of "My favorite things")

"Pampers and potties and runny red noses

Babies are seldom a bed full of roses

Whining and crying and carrying on--

This is what sucks about being a mom

Babies are cute, but it's just when they're sleeping

New moms don't realize that soon they'll be keeping

Hours that Dracula couldn't live on--

This is what sucks about being a mom

When a toy breaks

When your back aches

When you're feeling down

Real moms don't get stressed 

When they see a big mess--

They just know that a kid's around!"

     I wish so much I could remember the last part. It was to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," and I know it mentioned being able to go to the bathroom alone. The very last line, after all the bemoaning about our kids says, "But your mommies really love you!" 

     I was singing that song to myself this evening after a particularly rough time trying to get all three kids off to bed. It gave me a laugh and a reminder of how much I love my kids and how much I really do love this crazy life we're living!