The Truth About Mothering Two
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It has been over ten months since I became mom to Poppy which means 10 months of being a mother of two. There has been extreme highs and extreme lows. I will be the first to admit it hasn’t been easy, but to be totally honest, I expected worse.Before we had Poppy, we had people always offering their parenting advice and we heard many people explain how the jump from one child to two was a game changer, throwing your entire life through a loop. And while I don’t necessarily disagree with that, I feel like the loop that you get thrown into is a bit different than you may expect.You forget in the time between one baby to the next how much time is spent on the basics. There are hours of breastfeeding, cuddling, trying to get the baby to sleep and then keep the baby asleep. When they start to become mobile, it’s hours of keeping them entertained and safe from anything and everything. And, although you are more relaxed and maybe a bit more laid back on certain things the second time around, it still eats up most of your day. Those moments that you may have just gotten used to having back to yourself and being a bit more independent of a person.
The big difference I found between one and two is time balance. You need to learn to be so diligent and organized with your time. Everything needs to become more efficient and you need to accept that you come dead last. My secret hack to this? Following my mother’s footsteps, I schedule my ‘me’ time while the kids sleep. For my mom, she woke up at 6am (still does) so that she could enjoy a quiet breakfast, warm tea, and time to herself. For me, I schedule my night from 8pm on, while the kids are in bed for the night. From my workouts, to blogging work, it is all mapped out between those 2-3 hours between the kid’s bedtime and mine. It is heaven.
So, would I recommend making the jump from one to two? HELL YES! You will always have enough love to go around. And to be honest, the three year gap that our children have was perfect. Aubrey, though still a little boy in the grand scheme of things, was, at three, the biggest helper and is more and more when it comes to Poppy. At three, he understood sharing, and how that even meant sharing us parents. Now that Poppy is on the go and enjoys basic play, he takes the initiative to play with her and keep her entertained.So now the big question for our family, the jump from two to three. But I will save that for another time.All you mamas of two+, what are your thoughts of the change?