When L Bird and I first had A Bird and we were struggling with things like bedtime routine, crankiness and bouts of crying we always heard things like “If you think this is bad, try having 2 kids!” or 3 kids, blah, blah blah from the parents of multiple children. I always blew it off and quit asking people their opinions because I didn’t want to hear how tough it was to have multiple children when I was just asking for advice on raising one. Now that we have Nat, I truly realize that having more than one kid is tougher than you think. With two of them, you now have to fill two kids’ needs rather than solely concentrating on one and in that process there is little to no time for yourself. I mean that is what parenting is, right? Devoting your life to your kids and guiding them through the pitfalls of childhood so they can become successful adults and start the process over with their own children while still managing to spend your limited time together with your spouse. I think that is truly great and I wouldn’t change it, all I am saying is it is HARD.
Everything is so rushed now and it is rushed on both ends. I think L Bird and I make a phenomenal parenting duo because we agree on most things when it comes to parenting, but we do end up doing a lot of stuff separately. I start my day early and leave for work long before the sun is up or anyone else for that matter, so L Bird has the task of getting both girls up, fed, clean, dressed and ready for the day. She really is a super woman because I don’t know how she does it and still manages to make it to daycare for A Bird’s bus and to work on time. Then I catch afternoon duty, I get out of work run home quick to let the dogs outside, while they are outside I bring in firewood and get a fire started so the house is warm when everyone gets home. Once the fire is going pretty good, I head out to pick the girls up from daycare. I make sure to get the run down on when Nat ate last and when her diaper was last changed as I pack her into her snowsuit and into the carrier, then I gather up A Bird and her school bag and we hit the car running. On the way home I quiz A Bird about her day and ask her about homework. Once we get home I get A bird set up with a snack, then unpack Nat from her layers of snowsuit and try to start dinner. While dinner is cooking, I hold Nat and try to keep her happy while helping A Bird with her homework, normally by the time that is finished dinner is done and L Bird is walking through the door. We all eat our dinners then ping pong back and forth between the two girls until its bed time and they are tucked into bed. Luckily for us we have always been schedule Nazis and a routine has been set for A Bird and is starting to be set for Nat. By 8:15 – 8:30pm the girls are tucked in and sleeping, hopefully.
Now for the next hour I get to spend time with my lady. This is the magic hour, the time when we can settle in, relax a little bit and talk about our days or lately watch Duck Dynasty and laugh with each other. It’s easy to get so caught up and stressed out in all of life’s day to day tasks that I forget to give L Bird a hug and a kiss until we go to bed. It’s tough when you get so frazzled that you lose the physical contact with the person you love, and that’s something I am trying to work on, to at least greet her warmly when she gets home even if I’m stressed out.
That is my life right now, it feels tough now that we are going through it but I know that kids just grow so fast and in the big picture you really only have them for a moment in time. So I try to remember that as I can barely keep my eyes open at 8:45 in the evening or when I feel like I am scrambling at such a fast pace that my mind is going to crash. I am trying to take pleasure in the small things to balance how frantic I feel lately. Little things like “talking” with Nat while she practices her voice cooing and vocalizing, sitting next to A Bird and reading to her or just talking to her about her day and her friends, and getting some adult interaction with L Bird before bed. Real simple pleasures like a hot cup of black coffee and a new Grit magazine on Saturday mornings.
I know in a blink of an eye, the girls will be older and we will be trying to figure the next portion of our lives together. It’s just trying to balance it all and still enjoy our time together. Well, I’ve rambled on so long I forgot what my original point was, so on that note it’s once more back into the fray…
Everything is so rushed now and it is rushed on both ends. I think L Bird and I make a phenomenal parenting duo because we agree on most things when it comes to parenting, but we do end up doing a lot of stuff separately. I start my day early and leave for work long before the sun is up or anyone else for that matter, so L Bird has the task of getting both girls up, fed, clean, dressed and ready for the day. She really is a super woman because I don’t know how she does it and still manages to make it to daycare for A Bird’s bus and to work on time. Then I catch afternoon duty, I get out of work run home quick to let the dogs outside, while they are outside I bring in firewood and get a fire started so the house is warm when everyone gets home. Once the fire is going pretty good, I head out to pick the girls up from daycare. I make sure to get the run down on when Nat ate last and when her diaper was last changed as I pack her into her snowsuit and into the carrier, then I gather up A Bird and her school bag and we hit the car running. On the way home I quiz A Bird about her day and ask her about homework. Once we get home I get A bird set up with a snack, then unpack Nat from her layers of snowsuit and try to start dinner. While dinner is cooking, I hold Nat and try to keep her happy while helping A Bird with her homework, normally by the time that is finished dinner is done and L Bird is walking through the door. We all eat our dinners then ping pong back and forth between the two girls until its bed time and they are tucked into bed. Luckily for us we have always been schedule Nazis and a routine has been set for A Bird and is starting to be set for Nat. By 8:15 – 8:30pm the girls are tucked in and sleeping, hopefully.
Now for the next hour I get to spend time with my lady. This is the magic hour, the time when we can settle in, relax a little bit and talk about our days or lately watch Duck Dynasty and laugh with each other. It’s easy to get so caught up and stressed out in all of life’s day to day tasks that I forget to give L Bird a hug and a kiss until we go to bed. It’s tough when you get so frazzled that you lose the physical contact with the person you love, and that’s something I am trying to work on, to at least greet her warmly when she gets home even if I’m stressed out.
That is my life right now, it feels tough now that we are going through it but I know that kids just grow so fast and in the big picture you really only have them for a moment in time. So I try to remember that as I can barely keep my eyes open at 8:45 in the evening or when I feel like I am scrambling at such a fast pace that my mind is going to crash. I am trying to take pleasure in the small things to balance how frantic I feel lately. Little things like “talking” with Nat while she practices her voice cooing and vocalizing, sitting next to A Bird and reading to her or just talking to her about her day and her friends, and getting some adult interaction with L Bird before bed. Real simple pleasures like a hot cup of black coffee and a new Grit magazine on Saturday mornings.
I know in a blink of an eye, the girls will be older and we will be trying to figure the next portion of our lives together. It’s just trying to balance it all and still enjoy our time together. Well, I’ve rambled on so long I forgot what my original point was, so on that note it’s once more back into the fray…
No comments:
Post a Comment