September 13, 2009

People always ask

"How is it having two on your own?"

It is constant activity.  You are working 24/7 to keep them fed, clean, rested, and fever-free.  You beg each one not to wake the other, so you can try for sleep at 3:45 am.  You must plan mornings with military precision, filling bottles, juice cups, cereal bowls at 9 pm the night before.  You must memorize the week's weather so five days of clothes can be chosen on Sunday afternoon.

You worry that the baby isn't nursing enough and that the toddler is drinking too much juice.  You worry that you are waiting too long to toilet train.  You worry that you are spoiling them.  You worry that they will catch H1N1.  You worry that the neighborhood schools won't be good enough.  You worry that they will grow up to hate you.  You worry that they will get hit by a car.

You try to make everything a learning experience, whether it be literacy, the natural world, common sense or decent manners.  If you have a job outside the home, that becomes your time off.  At your job, you can make a decision and it stays decided.  You can say something once and it is acknowledged.   Tasks get finished and stay done.  It is ok to leave and drive away.  

You return home so you can prepare three different meals for dinner.  One for the toddler who eats nothing but chicken nuggets, one for the baby who eats puddles of vegetables and a fat-free one for yourself although there is no time to chew.

After rigorously protested baths and bedtime, you count your blessings that your children are healthy and happy.  Then you start the laundry.

That's how it is.

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