For reasons that I can't disclose publicly, my family has just expanded to include a little girl I previously took care of for a few months early in 2007. She is almost two and a half and came to live with me on Friday evening. Things have been pretty wild around my house. It's pretty crazy being a single parent to two toddlers. I am trying to take it all in stride and find the humor in the situation.
Here are some of my observations about how life changes when you have two children instead of just one.
(1) Things become more of an assembly line. Diaper and dress girl. Diaper and dress boy. Food for girl, food for boy. Bathe girl, bathe boy. And so on . . . .
(2) Grocery shopping becomes more of a sport than an activity. I don't know who invented those truck-shopping-carts with two steering wheels (the two part is very important), but I am officially their biggest fan. I'm also officially a little embarrassed to be admitting that fact.
(3) You add referee to your list of parental responsibilities. You find yourself needing to know who had which toy first, gauging when to step in on the fight or let them work it out, and saying things like, "I'm watching you . . . don't touch her steering wheel."
(4) You laugh and smile twice as much.
Here are some of my observations about how life changes when you have a girl and a boy, rather than just a boy:
(1) Pink invades everything.
(2) You start thinking more about hair, particularly hair accessories.
(3) Dolls and art projects are very important.
Here are some of my observations about how life changes when you have a two and a half year old rather than just a 13 month old:
(1) You really do have to watch what you say. My 13 month old probably shouldn't hear me say damn it or son of a bitch, but he does. However, he can't really repeat it yet. My two and a half year old can - with surprising accuracy!
(2) You can almost have a real conversation with a two and a half year old. And she has opinions and expresses them in words, rather than grunts.
(3) You can give a two and a half year old some responsibilities like "put your socks and shoes on" or "put your cup of milk in the fridge" and she complies!
The new saying in our house: "One mama, one girl, one boy, one puppy, one kitty cat." I think we are full up now!
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11 comments:
Congratulations! As the mother of 3 with 2 of them being only 16 months apart, I went through the same things except they didn't have the truck shopping carts. :) Once you get your "system" devised it is alot easier. People tried to scare me about how hard it is but I survived. Good Luck to your expanding family.
Rock on. Congratulations on your newest addition. She'll be a great addition and her and your son will soon be great buds!
No more room at the Inn?
Congrats. Sounds like you're going to have your hands full.
Congratulations! I was just thinking today how wonderful it would be to have a little girl...Of course I was looking at this website:
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/templates/SC.jhtml?itemId=cat1300735&parentId=cat7680748&masterId=cat10130733&icid=kids0b
Let me know if you want to go shopping!
I'm happy for you Ms. PH. Hope to see you soon. LR
Wow, my kids are close in age, too, born 12 mos, 11 days apart, so I'm feeling for you. Two in car seats, two in diapers, two into everything, it's a lot of work.
On the plus side, they will start to play together and entertain one another. That makes it easier.
Of course, let me know if there is ANYTHING I can do. I love little kids.
"On the plus side, they will start to play together and entertain one another."
On the minus side, they will start to play together and fight over every stupid little thing you could possibly think of. But when they do get along it's a beautiful thing.
I have just the one kid...and truth be told you are superwoman...I could never handle that much chaos. :o)
Congratulations, though!
Let me know if you need anything...even a sitter, I could bring the Bubba and the kids would have a blast together!
Hugs
@EBBarbie (and Ms. PH) ... you reach a point of critical mass where the children outnumber the available parents, and from there on out you can add infinite children and it doesn't get harder, just more expensive. :)
Eyebrows, I have to partially disagree with you on this point. Adding a child changes the dynamics of the family and the adjustment is hard no matter how many kids you have. For example, I have 3 boys and if I brought a girl home the dynamics of the family would change and the adjustment period would be hard. Sure some days are more challenging than others but that is the way it is with kids. BTW being out numbered isn't so bad once you have your "war plan"! :)
You sounded like you were pretty much smiling through the whole post. It was a pleasure to read!
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