Windows of Opportunity

While I was pregnant, S read some article somewhere about how during the first few unpredictable months of life with a newborn, it's important to take advantage of "windows of opportunity" - those few minutes or hours here or there throughout the day when you can do something besides care for your infant.  I didn't realize how much I'd grow to anticipate these windows - or how I'd actually be using them.

I remember laughing with friends during my pregnancy about how new parents complained about not being able to take a shower.  "How was that possible?" we joked.  "Can't you shower while your baby is napping?"

Ha.  Now I know better.  Napping windows with Peanut can be as short as three minutes (very often) or as long as three hours (very rarely), but there's no way to anticipate the duration when they begin.  As soon as they do, though, I'm usually off like a lightning bolt, rushing to do one of the following mundane activities:

• Brush my teeth 
• Use the bathroom
• Take a 2 minute long shower
• Eat
• Wash a dish or two
• Open the mail and think, "oh, I should pay those bills."
• Pay those bills
• Put away the clothes that have been sitting in the laundry bag for over a week
• Catch up on Facebook emails
• Pump my still annoyingly finicky breasts

More often than not, my activity of choice is disrupted by Peanut starting to shift around in her crib, at which point I'll rush back, stick the pacifier in the mouth, and pray it will soothe her back to sleep.  More often than not, it doesn't, and sensing my presence, she'll open her eyes wide and start wailing.  And more often than not, I'll choose to cuddle her back to sleep.  Then I'll just sit with her, she, cozy and content in my arms, me, still in my pajamas, hungry, holding my bladder, and loving every minute of it.