I've decided to use my furlough week, which starts right now, to go stay with my friend who just had a baby. I've offered to cook, clean, pick up dog poop, do diaper duty, chauffeur the 2-year-old to the playground/library/playgroup, etc., and every other non-fun thing. (Actually, chauffering Aiden to the playground/library/playgroup sounds very fun to me.)
For the next few days, Kristen will have her choice of going to Target with the non-mobile, non-verbal easily slung-child while I make up multiple voices for Play-Doh dinosaurs back at the house, getting tucked into bed with BOTH her little ones while I give Gizmo much needed exercise and tummy rubs, or being allowed to SLEEP like it's her job. I have no delusions that taking care of both kids at the same time will be easy for me, but if we can swing it, I'd love to send her out the door with her husband to go get a cup of coffee at some point before I leave.
I plan to follow all the rules, enforce bedtimes and naptimes, not argue about watering down juice or any other Very Important Parent Policies That Exist for a REASON, wash my hands more often than Howard Hughes, and retreat to the finished basement to give them privacy as a new family from time to time.
If my mama-readers have any suggestions about things you wish your post-partum baby-helpers would done, aside from tucking you into bed to get to know your new kid and letting you sleep like its your job, speak up now in the comments while I'm packing. I've never been more excited to get barfed on! And yes, there will be pictures.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Oh my goodness. No advice, here. Just wanted to say that you sound like a total goddess and I am so flying you here if I have another baby and also? I think I just half slipped into a fantasy where you were here taking care of Nate because I love sleep and he SO LOVES PLAY-DOH and juice. :)
as a professional care-giver, i would say that you're already on the right track. and you TOTALLY can handle two kids at once....the trick is to act like you have it all under control in front of the toddler, even if you don't. they can smell fear ;)
You are seriously awesome for doing that. The biggest life-saver I had as a new mom was when my aunt & cousin stayed with me. They stocked my fridge and cooked like it was their job. It was fantastic. If you can make a couple of things to leave in their freezer (i.e., casseroles, meat loaf, etc.), all the better. Let me know if you want my recipe for easy & yummy lasagna.
Also, my aunt vacuumed my house from top to bottom, which was awesome. She even cleaned my baseboards, which I had done during my crazy pre-baby nesting phase, but we had 4 cats at the time, so all my hard work was undone within 48 hours.
Also, you'll be fine taking care of 2 kids at once. Newborns just need food and regular diaper changes; toddlers are the ones that need entertainment. If you're feeling brave, stick the newborn in a sling/carrier when you take the toddler to the park, and let the new mom sleep uninterrupted for a couple of hours. She'll love you forever. (And if/when we have a 2nd, I'm totally buying you a plane ticket to come stay here too. Hee!)
Do two-year olds like jokes? If so, then be sure to take plenty of good good kid jokes with you. When the kids laugh, everybody laughs.
I am very proud of you and love you a great deal.
Post a Comment