The Witching Hour

It starts young. Like at birth. The almighty Witching Hour. It's the hour/s of the day where you really question your sanity and wonder if your kids have secretly plotted against you.

As newborns its when the babies suddenly cry for no reason. And they don't stop. It's usually right around when you reach your point of exhaustion for the day and are trying to cook a meal to give yourself more fuel to get you by until bed time. I distinctly remember cooking dinner with Brooke in the Baby Bjorn because it was the only way she would calm down.

As they get older, the witching hour changes slightly. While the kids might not be crying from 4-7 pm, they instead embrace the almighty whine. This whining could involve just about anything and usually makes no sense. Sometimes the whining is about the fact that they are staving and cannot wait until dinner to eat. Sometimes its about Rapunzel's hair not being long enough to rescue Flynn Ryder from the couch. It's anyone's guess.

It's usually when an infant insists on being held and not put down until bed time. Of course what are us mom's trying to do: Cook dinner! The result of this is many nights of frozen pizza and left overs (if you are lucky enough to have cooked a meal earlier in the week).

This time of day is also when you never feel like leaving the house and going somewhere. It would be such an easy fix if you can just load them up and go to the park at 5pm. The issue is, Madeline goes to bed at 6pm. Plus your energy level is so low by 5pm that you might as well call it quits.

I learned this yesterday as Brooke had a Dr. appointment at 3:30. OH BOY. Normally I would never in a million years schedule a Dr's appt in the afternoon. It is just a recipe for disaster. You are basically combing the start of the Witching hour with kids in a confined space! I brought enough snacks to feed us for 3 days, but they were all eaten within the first 10 minutes of our visit. The highlight was Madeline trying to stick her fingers in a socket as I am talking to the Dr. about Brooke. Mother of the Year here. Then you are stuck driving home in traffic with over tired kids screaming in the back.


Today's witching hour includes Madeline throwing a fit because the two bowls she is carrying around do not fit on her head as hats at the same time. Brooke is obsessing over a lost piece of play food from the picnic basket and has emptied out the entire toy box in an attempt to find one small lost piece of cheese.

Will I make it to bed time? YES. Will we have dinner cooked? Who knows. Will the house be picked up and cleaned? Definitely Not. Will we all survive and still love each other? Of course. :)