Those who dance must pay the fiddler

Let's begin with some over due pictures. KayLynn, David, and Claire, literally killing me with their preciousness.
My three little Halloween babies.
The Jones Family, rocking it alter ego style.


Part one of my story. So, I have a problem. The refrain from a song I know keeps running through my head. "It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive. If you don't have it you're on the other side. I'm not an addict baby..."

Because I am addicted. To the adolescent girl, vampire/human romance, Twilight book series. You know the ones, about people and vampires and werewolves. I am reading it at the expense of all other things. Pretending to go to the bathroom so I can sneak a few pages in. Reading in the car (while Greg drives of course). Literally propping it open with one hand, elbow resting on the counter, while I attempt to spread peanut butter with the other hand. I told Greg today, "Slow down, you're driving like a vampire." For those of you not in the know, that means too fast. It is down right embarrassing.

It also means that I'm utterly sleep deprived because I'm up until all hours reading. I have finished two of the four books and am actually praying to just get through the following two so that I can resume the rest of my life.

Part 2 of this story. I promise, they will tie together in the end. I celebrated my birthday this Saturday with a group of friends. I celebrated age 29 style, not 21. Dinner at a nice restaurant, good times with friends, live music, it was great. We were home by 11:30 p.m., not 4 a.m. It was a lovely night and made me wish we were able to do it more often.

Now, here's the conclusion you've all been waiting for. If you, as a parent, insists on doing irresponsible things like staying up too late reading a good book and letting fatigue take hold or spending your birthday with friends rather than in bed sensibly by 8:30 p.m., your children will make you pay.

They will begin by being up ALL NIGHT LONG on Saturday night. Nathan was inexplicably up four times and Dane twice. No sooner would Greg's or my head hit the pillow when one or the other of then would start in. This started at midnight and ended at 6:30 a.m. when the little roosters decided to call it a morning.

They then will come down with pink eye. By this evening it is in both of Nathan's eyes (which might explain the horror of last night) and he has generously passed it onto me. I'm sure we will all succumb over the next few days. Awesome. See you later Tuesday morning Bible Study. We will be at home with festering eyes.

They will nap horribly because they slept horribly and because you are trying to do fun things on Sunday like watch your niece's baby dedication and go to brunch. It will screw up their naps for the whole day. This in turn will mean at bedtime that you will battle them for well over an hour before they are all quiet. Not asleep, just quiet. (Those of you who aren't parents remember this little tip. Bad sleep equals bad sleep equals bad sleep. This is a universal parenting truth, right up there with bribery works and toys reproduce while you sleep.)

They will be miserably cranky all day because they are exhausted. I mean freakishly cranky.

They will make you say every ridiculous parentism in the book. "DON'T MAKE ME COME UP THERE!" "AUBREY, IF YOU HIT YOUR BROTHER ONE MORE TIME..." "THIS IS NOT HOW JONES CHILDREN BEHAVE!" (Even though, apparently, this is exactly how they behave.)

We spent the evening huddled on a futon mattress, watching "Toy Story" and eating pizza. It was as much parenting as Greg and I could muster and was the bright spot of the day. I mean, it's not their fault that they are little, right? Still.

Now that the day is nearly done Greg and I have both looked at each other and said, "Was it worth it??" And you know what, it's all worth it. The books, the date, the crazy hard work of small kids. It really is all worth it.