The Challenges of Having Two

My little one hit the four week mark yesterday. It's been a complete blur to me. That partly could be attributed to moving into our house in the middle of the four weeks. It is hard to believe we've been in our house for two weeks already!

The biggest challenge I've felt with having two is having to choose which boy will wait for his needs to be met. For example, I can't feed the baby and get my toddler his breakfast, snack, or lunch at the same time. One of them has to cry or whine while I attend to the needs of the other. That causes me to feel flustered and guilty that I can't keep both of them happy. I don't know how people with twins can get through without a nanny!

Sometimes, the older one is ready for his nap while the baby wants to eat. That makes me fly through his 'routine' of reading a book and singing a song. And then there's the fact that I've read a book to the baby only a handful of times in his short life...I read to my older son a lot more when he was a newborn. That also makes me feel bad that my baby isn't receiving the same stimulation my toddler did as a newborn.

But I know every mom faces these same challenges of meeting all her children's needs at once, no matter how many children she has.

These challenges don't even include the needs of a household with a newborn's tons of laundry (both his and ours!). Luckily, I have a laundry room to hide the many laundry baskets containing these piles of laundry. The only household chore (besides kitchen cleanliness) that I've managed since moving in has been vacuuming.

I didn't even have any household cleaners until today when I finally made it to the store sans kids, leaving me enough room in my cart to purchase something other than food.

Grocery shopping is another challenging adventure. It's hard to fit any groceries into the cart after I get both of them in the cart. Plus, the toddler has started grabbing things at the checkout counter (I'm surprised he's waited this long to do so...)

I think what I need to do is make a cleaning, grocery shopping, and laundry schedule for myself, so I don't feel overwhelmed or compelled to clean the whole house in a day. One load of laundry a day is enough; I don't need to have everyone's drawers full at the same time. I need to remember that it's ok to clean the bathroom mirrors one day, the vanity the next, etc...it's great having two boys, but meeting both their needs, cooking, plus the needs of a new house is still a learning process for me.

I also have to confess that every post on this blog showing any type of craft or sewing project was scheduled prior to having the baby and moving. I still have some more scheduled, but I have no idea how I'm ever going to start sewing again! I felt the same way after I had my oldest child, and things worked out just fine. I have plenty of ideas, just not the motivation, organization, time, or nerve to begin any of them!