Three days sans toddler

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No, the lack of words in the sentences above isn't a website malfunciton. I'm just enjoying the sound of silence while I’ve still got it. This weekend has seen a seismic split in our family; my husband has taken my toddler away to a family bach, leaving me here at home with our five-month-old while I recuperate from a throat infection. Aaaah, the blissful silence. Aaaaah, the blissful tidiness. Aaaaaah, the blissful opportunity to catch up on all those chores jostling for my attention. OK, so chores aren’t blissful as such, but the resulting order in our previous chaotic household is – and this isn’t an exaggeration – my personal nirvana.

My to-do list at the beginning of the weekend extended on to three pages, and, happily, very nearly each and every ‘to do’ has a jaunty little tick next to it. A random sample: clean the microwave, do the taxes, tidy each bedroom, sort out the playroom, write thank you notes… Bored yet? I haven’t been. I have set to with a joyful hustle-bustle not seen since Scrubbing Day on the Pippi Longstocking film (which, if you haven’t seen it, is very highly recommended… or at least it was totally awesome when I was 8).

I’ve also – touch wood – managed to sort out my baby’s rather antisocial habit of expecting a meal at 4am. With no fear of the toddler being woken up by the baby’s, ahem, plaintive bleats, I was able to deny said meal until 6.30am. (Strange things go through your head while trying to ignore your baby’s wails. My mind wandered away from ‘am I a neglectful mother’ territory on to much more important things such as who would come out on top in a battle between the sandpit and the vacuum cleaner. Conclusion: the sandpit; the vacuum cleaner would clog up and stop working before the sandpit was empty. One more fascinating tidbit: if you cough into your pillow, as is necessary when you are trying to make as little sound as possible so your baby isn’t woken up the moment she appears to have finally stopped crying, it provides a rather lovely warm circle for your ear to rest when you lay your head back down.) I should mention that I didn’t let her cry for two and a half hours – when I realised that she wasn’t just going to go back to sleep, I gave her a cuddle and a nappy change, and she went off to sleep after a just a little bit more complaining. The following night she didn’t wake till 5am, and after a quick cuddle was off to sleep again, ready for a feed at the socially acceptable time of 6.30am. Could we have knocked this on the head? Only time will tell.

So my ‘new thing’ this week was to experience three consecutive nights and days without a toddler. I’m happy to say that while I have immensely enjoyed the relative peace and quiet, I am well and truly ready for her to come spinning, dancing and tumbling her way back into my house any minute now. I can’t wait to play with her and hear all about her holiday. I am looking forward to hearing her little voice speak its hilarious malapropisms. I am even keen to hide under a stuffy blanket from the bear/lion/witch that is coming down the driveway. Welcome back, little girl.