Some of you may remember my previous post as I prepared for life with babies born 10 months apart. At the time of my initial post, I was 7 months pregnant with my daughter and had a 9-month-old son…so I figured it was time for an update as I’m now 18 months deep into life with two toddlers (who aren’t twins!)
Looking back now, I think those first few months were probably the easiest. Yes, I had a 10-month-old, who wasn’t walking yet, and a newborn who needed attention regularly. However, I felt like I was chugging along just fine. I was able to go out and about with both of them by myself and felt pretty confident that I was getting the hang of motherhood. Boy, was I wrong.
Enter: the toddler phase. My son was the most laid back, relaxed little man until he turned 18 months and then, he turned into a terror. The little boy who was so sweet and listened and ate everything on his plate had transformed overnight into a tiny little tornado. All of a sudden, it was like a switch flipped and life got increasingly more difficult. At the same time, my 10-month-old daughter was just starting to walk and things were about to get crazy. I knew that I was in for the wildest ride of my life as I trudged hesitantly into the world of parenting two toddlers.
I’ll never forget trying to take them both out together that summer when my daughter had just started walking. I thought it would be fun to take them to an outdoor community concert (since they both loved music). Unfortunately, my husband was working so I had to fly solo but the thought of it seemed fairly simple: put both kiddos in the double stroller and keep them contained. Piece of cake, right? Wrong. We were about 10 minutes into the concert and we had already gone through all of our snacks and my daughter started to get fidgety. She started to wiggle around and was telling me she wanted out of her seat. I thought, ok, I can let her out and then my son would still be in the stroller. Nope. As soon as she got out, he wanted out. I was dumb enough to think they’d just sit on the blanket and listen to the music so I got him out too. Within two minutes, they had both started running in opposite directions and I immediately panicked! I had to choose which one to chase after first and then run to the other one while carrying the other! I’m sure all the people around me were quite entertained with the show I was putting on. Needless to say, I managed to get them both back in the stroller and we headed home to bed as fast as I could get there. This mama was exhausted!
Currently, my kids are 19 months and 29 months (so not exactly 2 under 2 anymore, but close enough!) and life has never been more hectic. My husband and I have begun to accept that our lives are just going to be full of chaos and mayhem for the next several years. We have a morning routine that is like clockwork on most days and our bedtime routine has been a constant since they were both infants, which helps tremendously. Between the hours of 3:30 and 7 pm, you can catch the McDonald circus in full swing. Our youngest is picking up every little thing from our oldest; the good, the bad and the ugly (specifically the word “no” with extreme emphasis!) They are the best of friends thus far, but it’s only a matter of time before they start to conspire against us. Our patience is tested every other minute, frustration is at an all-time high and every day, we question our parenting skills and whether or not we are doing a halfway decent job. As difficult as it is, I know we are blessed to be where we are and I can only hope that we continue to do what’s best for our kids and our family.
