mommy's note: i need ear-plugs...

last sunday was a challenge... it was the 1st time i spent 5 hours w/out any help from hb (has to work OT) or helper (her off day) handling the 2 crying machines at home... make that "screaming" machines!

my boy - getting temperamental
happy one moment, cranky the next.
smiles/gurgles at me one moment, pulling my hair/kick my stomach the next.

my girl - emotionally insecure
playing/sharing her toys with gaby and singing songs with mommy happily, but the moment she hears the karang-guni man's horn, the police/ambulance siren, the noise from the neighbour upstairs (knocking on the walls, floor, etc), she will freeze and drop whatever she's doing at that moment and run to me for hugs while crying/screaming 'scared scared' regardless of the situation we're in at that point in time.

and sometimes she's just being dramatic in her attempts to get my attention... examples:
if i was carrying/burping gaby, she'd try to push her way (ie. pushing her brother away) so that i HAVE to carry/hug her instead while CRYING.
if i was preparing food/cooking, she'd go in between the sink/stove cabinet and my legs while CRYING.
and whenever gaby starts to cry, she'll join in CRYING and both will soon be competiting with each other with their loudest cries/screams...

my patience was clearly thinning after going through a few of those vicious cycles where my 2 'angels' competed with each other in the 'cry/scream/kick/pull/drink/eat/puke' categories and at one point, i even had to clean and calm a screaming pooping boy while making sure the girl lie down and finish up her milk, on the same bed! luckily my SOS sms to hb before i went insane got a pretty fast response - and help was at home by 2pm!

and so, i need a pair of super-duper sound-proof ear-plugs to standby, in case i have to deal with them again on my own the next time (cross fingers the next time will be much better as they get older...). and should i ever come across such a device, i'm sure to get another pair for hb too - coz from the reaction on his face after he took over our 2 'angels', i'm super-duper sure he'd definitely want one too! :)