"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."
"Your children become who you are, so be who you want them to be."
and my personal favorite...
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body."
You feel good now, don't you? Told ya so. Today wasn't one of those "feel good" mommy days for me (and if I'm honest, neither was yesterday), so I looked up "funny quotes about parenthood" instead. For your reading pleasure...
"If parenthood came with a GPS, it would mostly just say: RECALCULATING."
"I used to have functioning brain cells, but I traded them in for children."
And this gem...
"Turns out, I'm the mom most likely to teach the neighborhood kids how to swear."
If you care enough to read this, then you know that we recently added a baby to our family. While we were waiting for Adley to arrive, we got lots of (mostly unsolicited) information about how families handled having more than one child. There is the camp that believes going from zero to one child is the hardest. Then there are those that believe going from one child to two children is the most difficult. Lastly, there are those folks who claim that any children after #2 are a piece of cake. Lunatics.
Emma meeting Adley at the hospital was about the most precious thing I've ever witnessed. I just knew that this was going to be amazing, having two children. We were going to rock being #girlparents. They were going to be the best of friends. Emma was going to be such a big helper while Adley is small and needs lots of attention. And better yet, Emma would be so understanding of that as well, because two year olds are totally rational.
I feel certain that the good nurses at the hospital were passing out a lot more than just Ibuprofen. We came home and, for a few weeks, life was bliss. Bradley stayed home for several days until we were both ready for him to go back to work. Emma was at preschool in the mornings. She'd nap when she came home and then we had the afternoons to play. Bradley came home at a reasonable time and cooked dinner (thank you, Hello Fresh). Life was good. We were navigating life as a family of four with grace and ease.
I can't tell you the exact moment when the proverbial (and lots of times literal, because babies) s#*t hit the fan, but it hit hard. Sometime between late May-early July, we entered into a time that we thought we'd avoided. Calling this phase of child development the "Terrible Two's" is generous. Each new day brought with it a fresh form of hell that we had no idea how to deal with. Temper tantrums, meltdowns, hissy fits, whining that she's hungry but refusing to eat, the list could go on and on and on. Around this same time, we thought it best to start potty training this feral child. Oh, and "monsters" entered her world, and apparently EVERY room in our home.
Bradley likes to tell people that, most days, he comes home to find me in a standoff with a miniature version of myself. It's a battle of wills that she usually wins. My husband is exactly right. This girl is me up one side and down the other. Well played, karma. We battle every day, but I am learning to choose those battles wisely.
Bradley told me the other day that he knows how Bill Murray's character felt in the movie Groundhog Day. Parenting is kind of like that. Wake, feed, play, thank Jesus for nap time, keep children alive, attempt to cook dinner (see survival technique in photo below and proceed to call CPS), feed, bathe, survive until bedtime, sleep. Repeat.
Old-ish people like to tell new-ish parents that time goes by so quickly; that we will miss these days when they are older. They are probably right. I know, eye roll, middle finger, etc., etc., etc. If you're like me, the mere utterance of that word, "TWO," sets you on edge. Whether it be the age of your toddler or the number of children reeking havoc on your home, two, it seems, is a blessing and a curse. Consider these few thoughts...
TWO: the number of times a week someone will ask you if you're going to have another baby.
Rumor has it, this thing is still MY UTERUS. I'll let you good folks know if and when it decides to change the sign to "vacancy."
TWO: the amount of hours, per night, of sleep that you will get. This is an average. Here's hoping yours is higher.
TWO: The number of week nights you will send your husband this text: "Bring wine or die."
TWO: The number of pairs of braces, cars, college educations and ridiculous weddings you'll have to pay for.
TWO: The number of times per day that you text your mother a photo asking, "Is this normal?" Also, the number of times you search Google to reassure yourself that, yes, that thing you were about to do or feed them WILL give them cancer/brain damage/etc.
And after you've considered all of that, remember this...
TWO: The precious hours before waking and after bedtime that you get to just be "Mandy" instead of "mama."
TWO: The number of times she asks you to sing "Purple Jesus" at night while she hums along and wraps those perfect little arms around you.
TWO: The kisses you get from your husband each day. One to say "I'm cheering for you today. You've got this." And the last to say, "You did good, babe. Thank you."
TWO: The opportunities you forget to thank God for all of it. The chaos, the mess, the love, the life you have.
and...
TWO: The number of times you'd do it all over again, if given the chance, because it really does go by so fast.
My sweet mommy friends: savor it, soak it all in, and for Heaven's sake, tell someone when it's hard, because that is how we teach each other how to be better. And when it's just too much, too hard, and the days are too long, remind yourself that someday, not too far down the road, you'll have two (or one, or more) real, live human beings walking around out there in the big, wide world, thankful that you are their mama.
~Proverbs 31:30~
Old-ish people like to tell new-ish parents that time goes by so quickly; that we will miss these days when they are older. They are probably right. I know, eye roll, middle finger, etc., etc., etc. If you're like me, the mere utterance of that word, "TWO," sets you on edge. Whether it be the age of your toddler or the number of children reeking havoc on your home, two, it seems, is a blessing and a curse. Consider these few thoughts...
TWO: the number of times a week someone will ask you if you're going to have another baby.
Rumor has it, this thing is still MY UTERUS. I'll let you good folks know if and when it decides to change the sign to "vacancy."
TWO: the amount of hours, per night, of sleep that you will get. This is an average. Here's hoping yours is higher.
TWO: The number of week nights you will send your husband this text: "Bring wine or die."
TWO: The number of pairs of braces, cars, college educations and ridiculous weddings you'll have to pay for.
TWO: The number of times per day that you text your mother a photo asking, "Is this normal?" Also, the number of times you search Google to reassure yourself that, yes, that thing you were about to do or feed them WILL give them cancer/brain damage/etc.
And after you've considered all of that, remember this...
TWO: The precious hours before waking and after bedtime that you get to just be "Mandy" instead of "mama."
TWO: The number of times she asks you to sing "Purple Jesus" at night while she hums along and wraps those perfect little arms around you.
TWO: The kisses you get from your husband each day. One to say "I'm cheering for you today. You've got this." And the last to say, "You did good, babe. Thank you."
TWO: The opportunities you forget to thank God for all of it. The chaos, the mess, the love, the life you have.
and...
TWO: The number of times you'd do it all over again, if given the chance, because it really does go by so fast.
My sweet mommy friends: savor it, soak it all in, and for Heaven's sake, tell someone when it's hard, because that is how we teach each other how to be better. And when it's just too much, too hard, and the days are too long, remind yourself that someday, not too far down the road, you'll have two (or one, or more) real, live human beings walking around out there in the big, wide world, thankful that you are their mama.
~Proverbs 31:30~
Love this! I remember the days after Lucy was born and I can relate. Even now it's a different kind of hard. I had a son who was not very gentle and also a little dictator and didn't like to sleep at three years old. He wanted to try to poke Lucys eyes out. So much so that I had to buy a minivan to separate them in the car! It's hard being a mama period. It's been even harder being sick and physically not being able to do what I need to do sometimes. I still have those good mama days and those awful, wondering if I'm a good mama days. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Now, Levi has grown out of the terrible years, but Lucy is in them. She knows how to take up for herself because of him. And they fight over every. Single. Stupid. Thing you can think of. "She touched me" "he looked at me". Lol, the phases change, but the annoyance is still there. And the need for you time and couple time without the little attention hostages is always important. You are doing a great job!
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