From time to time I like to make sure I’m being honest on here as part of my Let’s Be Real Campaign. Numerous people have asked me how things are going now that there are two H-G Munchkins in the world, and my answer has usually been, “pretty good”. In response to that, there have been two groups: The first group that cheers me on and gives a smile, and the second group that doesn’t believe me. Now, I’m not about to give a 30 minute monologue every time someone asks me how I am. Being a mother of two has been great but tough, challenging but rewarding, crazy but pretty good. So whether you believe me when I say Pretty Good, or you know there are more details behind my simple answer, I offer you my confessions as a newish mother of two. Enjoy.
1. SHOWERS ARE NEVER A DAILY OCCURRENCE. It’s 6:00am, I’ve just finished nursing Eloise and I have a big decision to make: I could head to the bathroom so I can have a leisurely shower with both kiddos sleeping peacefully, with time to do my hair, put on make-up, and drink a fresh cup of coffee by myself OR go back to bed for 45 minutes and kiss my chances of a shower goodbye. Hands down I go back to bed. Duh. For the every-other-day-shower-pattern I have adopted, showers are granted by bartering (see number five below), Brad is home, or I wait until mid-afternoon before finally peeling off my pajamas and taking a shower during Quincy’s nap.
Grocery Shopping Selfie. Air-dried hair, no make-up, Baby Eloise strapped to me so I don’t have to carry her carseat, holding Quincy because he was upset about something and I didn’t want to deal with a parking lot meltdown. Typical Day 🙂
2. APPARENTLY, MY iPHONE IS MY THIRD BOOB. Whenever it’s time to nurse, I find myself scrambling to find my phone so that I can first figure out which side I need to start with (thanks to the What To Expect Baby Tracker app!), but also so I can flip through Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and my email to fill the time. Although I nurse like a ninja and can complete a variety of tasks while nursing, I typically choose to burn time on social media sites instead of cluing into my local environment. Part of it is because I need that social connection, or a distraction to keep me awake in the wee hours of the night, or I’m just bored. Sadly, I should be using more of that time to bond with Eloise or still spend time with Quincy while he plays. And although I’d like to say I’ll be changing my ways as of tomorrow, this is still just a confession and not necessarily a commitment to improvement.
Time Well Spent: Recent Trip to the Park
3. I’M NOT A RECIPROCAL BLOGGER. Here I am typing away with the expectation that tens or hundreds of you will read my words and feel uplifted or inspired or a certain sense of camaraderie in this whole parenting thing. And yet, I hardly ever read other blogs, not even those of my friends! And they’re good bloggers! To my writer friends, I owe you an apology and hope to one day organize my time better. And to all of you out there that will never read these words I say, Good For You. There are much better ways to spend your time! Take a nap, ride a bike, bake a cake, sing a song, have a dance party in the kitchen, call a friend, hug your neighbor… oh, the possibilities!
5. I USE TELEVISION AS A CURRENCY. One “George” will get me a full shower plus a few extra minutes to blow-dry my hair; one Choo Choo can buy me a cleanish kitchen; I’ve even bartered one “Roar” for a full cup of hot coffee, lunch at the table with both hands, a load emptied from the dishwasher, and a few minutes of nodding off on the couch during the closing scenes with a sleeping baby on my chest. We do limit Quincy’s exposure to TV because there are better things for him to do – play outside, read him a book, take a walk, etc. – but he does usually get anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes of screen time.
TV Calm: Quincy chilling to an episode of George while holding his Baby.
Eloise & Momma Snuggles
6. EVENING MAGGIE HAS NO RESPECT FOR MORNING MAGGIE. Once Quincy is down for the night, I take advantage of the modern conveniences of DVR and Netflix to watch a variety of good shows, snuggle with Eloise, crochet, watch some hockey with Brad (Go Wings!), or toy around on the computer. Evening Maggie sees that toddler-free time as a plethora of possibilities and so the minutes tick away until I’m up too late and dragging myself to bed. Morning Maggie has complete disdain for Evening Maggie once it’s time to get up for the day. Coffee has made the two Maggie’s more amicable, but they’re no BFF’s. Maybe one day I’ll figure out a balance of getting time to myself and respecting my body’s need for sleep. Maybe.
Late Night Snuggles with Eloise
Well, that’s enough confessions for now. Do you have anything you’d like to get off your chest? Or do you share some of these habits listed above?
Pretty goodly yours,
~M
