The fox, the chicken, and the bag of grain

I have my car back. Pickup went seamlessly, and I even feel more confident about installing/uninstalling carseats now. However, I am not convinced the car is ok to drive. After telling me the trouble started from Jiffy Lube "over filling" the oil by two quarts, the dealership instead told me today that the cap on the oil pan was loose, and that I had lost two quarts of oil, and the oil spilling onto the hot exhaust pipe caused the white smoke. So all they did was give the car an oil change. Huh.

When I got home, though, there was water dripping out of the bottom of the car in a big pool in my garage. Eventually it stopped - and it was not oil, it was definitely water - but that makes me not too confident about driving tomorrow. Ugh. Does the fun ever start???

So much of parenting, and especially parenting two kids, reminds me of that old puzzle about the fox, the chicken, and the bag of grain that have to be transported to the other side of the river in one boat. But you can't leave the chicken and the grain alone, or the fox and the chicken. Unfortunately I still have to keep Bumpus and Theo separate, which leads to all kinds of logistical puzzles. For breakfast I put Theo in a bouncy seat, but have to put it beyond a baby gate because Bumpus can't be trusted with Theo close to the floor like that; but then Theo gets sick of the chair and starts screaming, but doesn't want me to put him in the baby carrier and instead wants me to hold him, but I can't hold him and feed B and myself...there are a million situations like this every day; mostly I just manage somehow (usually by leaving poor Theo wailing somewhere). But having been in close contact with a new person (my floor guy's assistant, who drove me to the dealer and rode with me today so she could take her boss's car back) and seeing my life through her eyes, it does all look really difficult...and dreary. Screaming kids, me frazzled and exhausted...I could just see this woman (married, no kids) heading home, collapsing into her husband's arms, and thanking God they made the decision not to have children. 

Yeah, it can be really hard at times. But there is an enormous satisfaction to tackling every day and ending it with two healthy kids snug in their beds. And it does get easier all the time - and by "it" I mean Bumpus. He is progressing in leaps and bounds - every day doing more, saying more, engaging more. I love that he loves books now, and I can finally read to him and he imitates the noises I make for the animals, the trucks, etc. I still find myself fantasizing about the boys being older a lot - all the things we can do, how easy it'll be when I don't have to cart around diapers and strollers and sippy cups. But for now I'm just in it - every day is a hill to be climbed with a nice iced tea at the top of it.