I saw the grand possibilities of having a baby again… more sitter hours, portability, and having a child who wouldn’t talk back to me. What I didn’t realize was how impossible it would be to do the little things I had gotten accustomed to as being a mother of one. So, herewith, a list:
- It’s impossible to blog anymore. I’m pretty sure that my baby burrito has memorized the QWERTY keyboard. He even smiles when the Windows “musack” comes on after I power on.
- I haven’t peed alone in 2 months. I finally got to the point of “Peeing in Peace“ and now everytime I have to go, someone cries.
- I can’t remember diddly. Calendar appointments are now reserved for remembering to call my mom.
- It’s virtually a miracle if my clothes are clean. At least when I had one, I could change my top if it had spit up on it. Now, I don’t notice the spit up until I’ve already been out to a lunch date, play date and kiddie soccer class. And noticing it on my new cashmere sweater was not appreciated either.
- Having a conversation. I’m happy now if I can talk to someone either in person or on the phone uninterrupted for 3.5 minutes.
- I have no trunk space left in my car. Putting the items I buy from Target away in the trunk around the double stroller requires a degree in spatial relations.
- I can’t get anywhere at the time I intend. I book appointments at least 15 minutes after my desired target arrival time.
- My beloved well-manicured nails are a total thing of the past. And the do-it-yourself jobbies just don’t cut it.
- I’d add sleep to this list, but my 3 year-old has decided not to sleep through the night anymore, so I wouldn’t be getting much anyway.
- Finally, though, it’s impossible to have thought that after only two months of being a mother of two, I’d love my kids this much. Even without the sleep, the well-preserved nails, the phone conversations, it’s so worth it.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s funny how, after you’ve had 2, you look back at your early days with #1 and think “why on earth did I think that was hard?’ But you’re only a 1 year away from the kids playing together and giving you 5 minutes to pee in peace. Or paint your nails.
Hi…I have never commented on one of our posts before…even though I read every one! I want you to know, that as my #2 is nearing her first birthday, it does get 1 MILLION times better. Go easy on yourself…I forgot diapers for my daughter’s first two pediatrician appointments and had to go to the waiting room to borrow some! The other mom’s were like, oh, your first baby and I said, oh no…I have done this before! You can get yourself exctited for all the wonderful things to come…, I promise!
HAAA…I love it. Isn’t it remarkable how easy it was to have had only one kid. If only we’d been able to appreciate it when we had just one. This list of yours will grow so much longer as soon as he is mobile. Cherish every day of immobility. And I don’t know what marketing mommy is doing in her house but I need a memo from her – bc I’m living your one year from now- and it’s WWIII and physical assaults when DD2 moves within 10 feet of DD1 and her toys.
Imagine having four-I haven’t peed at home in peace for 7 years! Dave and I ask each other all the time what we did with all of our “free time” when we just had Noah at home. I do have one piece of advice. Go on vacations! Both with your kids (you’ll realize how much fun you can have with them once you get out of the daily grind) and without them (you’ll love it and say you’ll do it again soon and of course it will be years until the next one!).
Number 3 is my life. I make lists all the time. The other day I looked at my husband and started telling a story about that thing in the kitchen we cook dinner on. He looked at me and said, “The stove?” Seriously. I couldn’t pull the word stove out of my brain because I was so tired and distracted. Of course, we started with two, so this list has been my reality ever since we had children.
This is a great list! I’ve been contemplating numero dos but your list makes me appreciate my one and only (for now!)
I’m two years ahead of you and the ability to get an uninterrupted night of sleep is still elusive. It happens about once per week.
Example: Earlier this week my 5-year old peed in his bed twice in one night. It was like having a nursing baby to get called out of my bed every three hours.
The bad dreams are the preschooler symptom we didn’t know about when our first child started sleeping through the night and we prematurely thought “We lived through it!”. Now he’s more likely than the little one to have night-wakings.
@marketingmommy said it well. I just need to add that the comment about the baby smiling at the Windows musack made me laugh/
Your post made me laugh….I have thought all of those things to myself. My kids are 13 months apart and my youngest just turned one last week. I agree with the comments above too, it does get easier. When they started having the same afternoon nap schedule, my life changed. i now have two hours to myself every afternoon. Well…I would not call them to myself exactly. I still have to clean, return phone calls, check emails and try to work during that time. Like you, I love my little girls to death, but man…I miss having free time!