Friday, May 8, 2009

Enter the Toddler

So today my toddler and infant napped simultaneously for two hours! Anyone with more than one kid knows that this is a miracle from God. With these two hours I was able to finally eat and drink something today, clean, do laundry, make my bed with new sheets (I never make the bed routinely; the pollen is killing me at night!), watch HGTV, and Skype my friend Louisa in England. This was the highlight of my day.

It's funny... When Eric was first born I remember thinking 'Oh My God, how in the world am I going to manage this?! It's so hard! I have no free time!' Now I have two, and I think, 'What the hell was I complaining about?!'

Babies sleep all the time! I could sleep when Eric slept, watch t.v. while I nursed, go to the store while he was obliviously asleep. Life gets incredibly more difficult when an opinionated toddler enters the picture. I now awake to Eric screeching at the top of his lungs as my wonderful husband feeds him breakfast downstairs (assuming Rachel hasn't woken me up first). I now have to chase Eric away from the dishwasher that he can not only open and start but can also climb inside (his new trick). I have to watch my reaction to every thing Eric does to piss me off because if I act shocked or upset, he will undoubtedly continue and escalate the behavior.

I try every day to concentrate on the good qualities about my son and not the craziness. He is a great sleeper. He is (mostly) gentle and good to his baby sister. He has a great sense of humor. I want to cherish these times and remember the good things about his toddler years. I remind myself that all too soon he'll be going to school, and these times will be gone.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay for simultaneous napping! I'm glad you're trying to see the positives...that's a huge thing at this point in your life with a toddler and a newborn, so you are doing great!!!

PG said...

"With these two hours I was able to finally eat and drink something today, clean, do laundry, make my bed with new sheets (I never make the bed routinely; the pollen is killing me at night!), watch HGTV, and Skype my friend Louisa in England."

Wow, do I feel lazy. Even with my job I have at least two free hours every night, and I only get around to my equivalents of HGTV and Skyping a friend. I think I finally get what women are talking about when they say they learned how to maximize productivity while they were purportedly not "working" moms.