Becoming a mom for a second time has broadened my view, made me feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, again, and helped me chill out all at the same time! With one kid I still felt like I was competent and able to do most things, with two, I've stopped trying to be competent at most things and just decided to be fairly good at the essential things, the rest can figure itself out! That being said I have picked up few extra "talents" that I didn't know I needed to be a mom. However when you make room for new things sometimes other things get bumped... like how to be sociable, or how to look in the mirror before leaving the house, you know the non-essentials (;
1. Doing anything and everything with one hand. From making supper or vacumming, to getting dressed, feeding other siblings or lets be honest, feeding yourself... the list could go on. Every baby has those stages where they are just stuck to you, sometimes its just easier to hold the baby than listen to the crying or half tripping over them while they are clinging for dear life to your legs.
2. Juggling acrobat. We are getting ready to leave, and when we walk out the door I'm holding the baby in the baby carrier, the diaper bag, my purse, which may or may not be in the diaper bag, and holding my toddlers hand, all while trying to lock the door and get everything into the car at the same time. This does not include keeping a watch out for the littlest potentially kicking off one of his shoes while walking to the car or throwing out the toy he is holding, and hopefully I'm not forgetting my keys or my phone or the nuk.... (I don't even want to know how it is with 4 kids... maybe by then though they will be old enough to carry all your stuff for you, so you can walk like a normal human being?!)
3. Superhuman strength, but only in my left arm. This one kinda goes hand in hand with #1. Because I'm holding the baby all the time and I'm right handed, I need my right hand to actually do the work. That means he's usually hanging out on my left hip. After supporting a 20lb, wiggly human for any amount of time you build muscle pretty quickly. As I was taking before pictures for my latest attempt to work off this baby weight, I realized my left arm looked in slightly better shape than my right. Thanks Toby! Now to be ambidextrous so we can even things out!
4. The ability to overlook dirt and mess. I have to admit this one comes and goes, but lets face it, it's just inevitable that kids will be dirty, or make your house dirty, or eat, no, lick, dirt, food or who knows what off your floors. Sometimes to keep my sanity I just pretend I didn't see it... after freaking out about it on more that one occasion I've come to the realization it really can't be helped. You can work to clean up the house or try to keep your kids from licking the floor but lets face, they will mess up whatever you cleaned in .5 seconds, and they will still lick the floor just when you actually aren't looking!
6. Feeding 4 people simultaneously. Being a stay at home mom, feeding both my kids at the same time as myself is a pretty regular occurrence. Even still it takes some skill and organization to make sure everyone has what they need to eat, including myself on any given occasion. My husband, the gracious man that he is, will often take over feeding one if not both of the kids at dinner time to give me a break, but on the somewhat rare occasion that he forgets to eat lunch or didn't have time to eat lunch I feel bad that he isn't eating as well, so I help get him food so he can grab bites while feeding Toby, while I give Piper some food, and also take a couple bites myself. :)
I jest, in some aspects, but really raising kids is no joke. I've always heard people say that but I obviously never got it! I'm not sure you can until you are there. That being said I LOVE being a mom, it truly is incredible. I have 2 great kids and a wonderful husband, wouldn't want it any other way, no make up, unwashed hair, snot on my shirt and all!
- Monica
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