The runaway toddler. For example, one of our first times "out," at the ward potluck after church, we lost Elliott. He was in the gym playing with the other kids, and then, he wasn't. As I was sprinting around the building looking for him, a nice man brought him in from the parking lot!!! Talk about a baptism by fire moment for not being able to handle your children. Thank goodness he was safe and wasn't out there very long.
The shopping. Shopping with 2 is a challenge after you put the carseat on the top of the cart and the toddler in the cart, there's no room for purchases. So, we upgraded to the Sit and Stand stroller. It feels like the stretch limo of strollers, lengthwise, not luxurywise, but it gets the job done of transporting 2 so the other parent can push the cart with purchases. I have yet to venture out alone with 2 kids on any sort of errand. I'm so glad my husband's home enough so that I don't have to!
They say your laundry doubles with every kid. You don't think that could possibly be true until you have a kid, then another kid. I'm so lucky I've always had a washer/dryer at my disposal since I became a mom. This year I'm super lucky because it's on the same floor in my house as the bedrooms.
The diapers. Elliott only goes through about 5 a day, some requiring a prize for the parent who changes him. For the love, can someone send a potty training fairy on over? He doesn't have the slightest desire right now. Lily goes through about 10 diapers a day! Seriously! We're doing our part to fill landfills!
The lapses in brain power. Maybe this is more related to the lack of continuous sleep but I OFTEN have a hard time remembering Lily's name. Has this happened to anyone else? I always seem to hesitate when a stranger asks me her name as I wait for it to come to me. It's so weird! Often when I speak to her I nearly call her some other random girl's name. I don't know what that's all about.
The messes. While I am hooked up to a nursing baby or a breast pump, I often utilize the cheap babysitter, aka, Nick Jr, to entertain Elliott. One time I came downstairs after feeding Lily and as I was walking downstairs I thought to myself, "It smells funny down here. Like potatoes. Did Brian put something in the crockpot this morning?" As I walk through the kitchen, something in the pantry catches my eye, because it looks like a huge puddle of blood is on the floor. A big bottle of V8 juice has been knocked off the shelf by guess who and has crashed to the floor, breaking the plastic lid off and glug, glug, glug, there is V8 all over the floor and splashed up onto the walls of the pantry. Yummy. That's one of the most time consuming messes I've had to clean up in a long time-- a substance just a little too thick to be sopped up by a paper towel. What a way to spend an hour! Also, today, I thought Elliott was a little too quiet, and sure enough... He came running into my room holding my dental floss saying, "What's this? What's this?" after he'd just unraveled half of the new package. Sheesh. At least it was the cheap stuff. As we discovered, when you have a huge wad of floss, you can squish it into all sorts of shapes. It's a minty, waxy, veritable play doh.
The letting go. Letting go of my standards for keeping a more orderly, clean, and neat house. Hmmmm no forks? Guess it's time to get to those dishes piling up. Hmmmmm out of leftovers? Guess it's time to make a grocery list and have a meal plan. I am striving to be happy despite walking by piles of things that just scream to me, "Come on, it'd only take 5, 10, 15 minutes to take care of this." It just makes me angry to not be able to complete the tasks I want to complete. I know it will get better. It already is getting better. In the mean time, I try to remember the last part of a poem, "Babies Don't Keep" by Ruth Hamilton, my mom had hanging on our wall growing up.
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
8 comments:
My mom had (still has) that SAME quote hanging on our wall. I love it.
It's always interesting to hear from moms who have taken on a second kid. It makes me glad to hear that it is doable because I feel like one is a handful but I really want more!
So, what's the most rewarding part of being a mom with two kids?
Congratulations Madeline. You look so great & Lily is an angel. Glad to hear that you're all doing well & that there is hope for parenting with 2 kids!
Okay, you have no idea how much you will think that 100 bucks for the sit n stand was the BEST you ever spent when you go ANYWHERE by the time your Lily is 4-5 months old, and can be strapped in sitting up.
You can actually GO TO THE MALL or GET OUT and feel free!!!
And welcome to my level!! You probably won't be here long, but welcome all the same. It's nice down here. A tad dirtier, but nice. :)
I had just found that saying at the beginning with both girls. It gets easier. I find two is also a lot easier than it was with one. You will do great!
I love it! I aggree with almost all of those things you said. Congratulations on a beautiful girl! I also started to panic when I couldn't remember Caeli's name easily. Now I can say it off the top of my head (finally) and she's 3 months old. Good luck with everything!
I love that poem! Im going to print it out and put it on my wall AND on my blog!
What a sweet poem.
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