Monday, April 18, 2011

My top ten tips for two under two

I know I am far from the first person to have two babies under two years of age.  For those of you who are parents of an only child or not parents yet, this might not make sense to you at all.  It might seem easy to take care of two young children all day (and all night).  It might look like I have it pulled together.  I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I don't.  However, I have learned a lot over the past six weeks and I thought I might share some of my knowledge--so here goes.  My top ten tips for two under two:
10)  Accept help when it's offered.  DO NOT TRY TO BE SUPERWOMAN.  It will only make you crazy.
9)  Wear your (newest) baby.  You will need the extra hands.
8) Don't be afraid to use the television as a babysitter in the short term.  We love PBS 'round these parts.
7) Eat your Wheaties.  Seriously, don't forget to feed YOURSELF. It's really easy to do when you've fed 3 mouths before your own sees so much as a crumb.  Usually it takes us 2 hours to get the morning routine completed.  Thank you PBS for your help.
6) Sleep when you can.  You will learn to survive on far less than you ever thought you could.  It's different than it was in college--you're not as young as you were.  You're also a lot less hungover.  So it evens out.
5) Take a deep breath and count to 10, and when that doesn't work, shut yourself in the hall closet and don't come out until you're certain you're not going to smack your toddler from here to South Africa.  Kidding aside, use your anger management skills.
4) Have a glass of wine.  Before noon if you have to.
3) Try not to take your frustrations out on your spouse.  I mean, I certainly would NEVER do this, but asking, "What's WRONG with you? WHY can't you FOLLOW SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS???" and storming off never goes over well. 
2)  Keep your expectations low--of yourself, of your toddler, and of your sweet new little baby.  This is a huge adjustment, and you need to give yourselves time to adapt.  'Simple' tasks like grocery shopping will take you all morning from start to finish. And you will be pooped. And you will have probably cleaned up 4 poops.  Having 2 under 2 really is pooptastic. (so sorry, I could not resist)
And finally, my number one tip for surviving having 2 kids under 2 is=
1) Don't forget to ENJOY this wonderful, happy, amazing, chaotic, crazy time in your life.  It's a blur of diaper changes, poop explosions, huge toddler emotions, never ending laundry, your highest highs and your lowest lows.  Being a parent isn't easy.  But it is pretty fantastic.

2 comments:

  1. There is a lot of use of the word "poop" in this post ;) I think I must have felt overwhelmed when Trent was 2 and Donovan was new because I waited about 6 years before more sounded like a good idea again!

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  2. You are such a good mom, and you better believe I'm going to have you on speed dial whenever this day happens for us.
    Love this post. :)

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