'Im a New parent-again

I worked in a daycare with infants for a year before becoming a stay at home mommy. I cared for and loved 4 little guys and gals that were "mine" as well as 4 other little guys and gals that were my "co-teachers babies". 8 babies in a room sounds crazy, but it actually was not.

And before working with babies, I taught preschool to 16 four year olds. Again, sounds crazy, but I loved every second of it!

I share this info because I wanted you all to understand where my confidence in taking care of children cames from. I've put in some years, and loved it, so surely, having my own couldn't be too terribly hard. Right? Right???

Well, I underestimated the not sleeping factor. AND I certainly underestimated the difficulty of having two children OF DIFFERENT AGES. Honestly, it is a feat just to keep the two guys alive. (I joke, kinda)

Little Dude is at the stage of jumping off everything, climbing anything, spinning in circles until he falls down (and most of the time he insists on doing it either in front of the fire place or coffee table..why???)

It is also a feat just trying to time up feedings, diaper changes and naps so we can get outside! And I am amazed at how little time I have found to work or blog. I was working at least 25 hours a week for Dakno when I had just Little Dude because he played very nicely either in the playroom where I could watch him while I worked in the office.

But now, with two, I can't leave them even across the room from me because Little Dude will try to climb into the pack and play to "kiss" JR. It is sweet, and I am happy, that he is saying "iss" (kiss) and wanting to hug his brother,as apposed to trying to bash JR in the head with something, but it is also frustrating because I can't leave them alone for even a second. I am carrying/wearing JR everywhere I go to keep him safe. At the same time, I am trying to give tons of time to Little Dude to make up for the fact I am always with JR. Wow.

So, this morning, I decided to see if any other parents out there had stories about balancing multiple children of multiple ages. I found this super cute and wonderful post by The Mommy Stories and it, along with her previous posts, really summed up my feelings about being a new mom to two very young boys in a very fun and elegant way. It was nice to get a good chuckle out of her story and to compare her experiences with mine. I think that's the best part of blogging, sharing stories and getting new perspectives! Let me just say, Steph's perspective and stories lifted my spirits this morning and gave me the "its not so bad, everyone feels overwhelmed, I can do it!" boost I needed.

Because, after all, I am new to the experience of two babies and everything will fall into place with time, just like it did the first time around. Now, I don't feel so crazy for thinking I was "qualified" for being a mommy of two, AND I don't feel so crazy for having feeling that I don't know how to juggle two!

But no worries, I am signed up with some great tutors, their names are Little Dude and JR.