1. Personal hygiene. When do you take a shower? Up until a two weeks ago Dave was still home in the mornings so it never occurred to me that this could even be a problem. Coralie doesn't nap til almost 11:00 sometimes and I feel like the biggest bum if I haven't showered and gotten ready for the day by then. Getting up and getting ready before she gets up sounds like the ideal thing to do, I know, but I stay up til all hours of the night working, or something so waking up before 7:00 is so hard! I also don't want to spend her nap time getting ready for the day because that is my only time to myself all day. I like to use it either doing house work or paid work or wasting it by doing all the millions of other things I could do. Help!
2. Bath time. I'm sure this is not normal but we do bath time usually at least twice a day sometimes three times (after each meal). I like Coralie to eat on her own or try and she does really good with the hand to mouth thing. She is really trying to learn to eat with a spoon. She will kind of let me help her but if she doesn't want me to and there is food on the spoon, her arms start waiving in frustration and food goes flying. She also just doesn't keep it on the plate (duh) and this is fine but if she is done with something or decides she doesn't like, it gets dropped on the ground. Last when she is done and if i'm not fast enoughm (or paying attention, lets be real), the bowl/plate of food gets picked up and dropped on the ground. She then takes her adorable little baby hands and smears them all over the high chair, her chest, face and then if I try and stop her the messy little hands go in her hair. Do I just not let her feed herself? I would kind of like some sort of middle ground on this but don't know what that would be.
3. Sweeping/mopping. Is this really going to be a constant never ending thing? I could do this seriously 5 times a day. When it was me and Dave we never had to do it this often. I mean I know the whole food thing is a major factor but sheesh. What is normal? And what happens when we have another kid or 3 more kids?
4. Sleep. Those days are over, right? I guess if I went to bed at a normal hour sleep wouldn't be an issue. I found myself figuring out every minute I have to myself. There is about 6 of them on a good nap day or 4 on a bad and then I think of everything that needs to get done between house work, church calling, cooking, part time work at my office. How do people do it?
I know my list goes on... This isn't mean to complain but it has been interesting to learn this new job. It's much harder than my full time paid job I just left. I just need to figure this out! I've already learned the "dishes can wait" tip but I'll take any others I can get. I the mean time, I just love our little monkey and crawling around on the floor with her is the best!!!
Late nights were always my time to have some quiet, so early morning (before kids get up) were always difficult. Enjoy the night hours to yourself, but realize your morning shower time will be quick while she is safely playing in the playpen?
ReplyDeleteMessy meals will end soon enough when her coordination improves. You could use a t-shirt instead of a bib (a bib is sometimes not big enough for the mess). Then just toss the t-shirt(s) in the laundry, and a wet washcloth for face and hair.
Sweeping will NEVER end until you don't have anyone under 5 living in your house.
You are so lucky to get to spend every day with such a cutie!!
Roni- first of all, thanks for being a real person. Every mom goes through all or most of these things but doesn't ever want anyone to know she is struggling. Parenthood is a struggle and we don't always have to have our sh*t together. haha! Here is my humble suggestion, 1: maybe try to shower at night after she has gone to bed. Quick shower and then get to work, or whatever you choose to do in the evenings. If it's a hair issue, invest in a good spray bottle for when you do your hair in the morning!
ReplyDelete2: have a ton of wipes on hand. I always just wiped my babies down instead of bathing all the time. Let her get dirty, don't discourage it, she's exploring. Don't give her a plate, just put food right on her tray. Food will be on the floor inevitable, maybe get one of those baby floor mats or just a painting drop cloth even! Food will end up on the walls. When we first moved to our house in Show Low Paige to her sippy cup full of chocolate milk and just shook it everywhere in her room. It's still on the carpet and on the blinds, I at least cleaned it off the walls and baseboards last year when we painted her room! (We've lived here now for 3 years....)I'll eventually get to cleaning her carpet and her blinds, eventually. She will eat her food if she's hungry, if not so much, food turns into toys! And it's a phase too, they eventually eat all or most of their food.
3: There will always be crumbs on the floor. You have a choice, sweep all the time or wear socks. I mostly choose to wear socks. :)
4: Sleep. No, those days are not over. They just are for a little bit. My kids are 6 and 7 and I have been sleeping great for the past 3 years. Depending on how many kids you have, obviously the no sleep lasts longer but eventually they grown up a little and you get to sleep again.
This is just from my short experience so take it with a grain of salt. Everyone is different, you will find your groove eventually, and it's always changing. People say "Enjoy this time" but that's not always easy. Parenthood is the hardest thing to do. We're all awesome for doing it! Good luck. :)
roni you are the CUTEST new mommy:) Lets get together soon and chat about all this!!! Like this week or next!!!
ReplyDelete