what’s IT like?
With 2 minis to my name now, I’m frequently asked ‘So what’s it like?’ by pregnant mums with toddlers in tow.
So here IT is.
Blindingly brilliant (which explains the 3-child-family). I knew me and the man could love a little more, but I hadn’t expected boy and babe to adore each other so much. They hold hands and cuddle after naps. He gets her best giggles, and she gets his stickiest kisses. The way the kids are so similar and still so individual, draws different unexpected kinds of love from me. Those early mornings when we fill the bed up with our family are hard to beat. The man reckons it’s all rosy – but is aware he gets to spend quality time with either, as opposed to the inequality they get from me during the week!
Break-your-back. ‘Is there room on here for Leo?’ says the boy. ‘Here’ is my other hip as he launches himself at me from the top step, babe squeaking excitedly. You might slim down quicker with the sheer calorie-combusting effort of 2, but you’ll stay weighed down as you heave a huge HUGE change-bag/bags around. High-chairs in cafes are hard work as you can’t very well lay your littlest down on hard floor while you hoik the toddler in. However, those ‘grab and guide’ toe skills honed in pregnancy continue to be useful as I frequently have my hands full of babe.
Also, avoid hills.
Bust-a-gut. I was told it would feel like less than double the work. It flipping does NOT. It feels like far more – you don’t realise how low maintenance your toddler is, until he isn’t. Because now there’s a baby for him to cuddle, crush and copy. Waaaaaaaaaaaaa! And if you do secure simultaneous lunch naps (high five!) there’s always something to do and having a cuppa isn’t one of them. I suppose it was a shock to go from being at work sans boy for 3 days a week, to being the full-time carer of boy AND babe for 7 days a week. Granted, we go for divide-and-conquer at the weekends, but man-on-man marking means both parents are still mostly always on duty.
Break-even? The going gets harder and easier in that up and down cycle that all balances out eventually. I watched a mum relaxing with a magazine at soft-play today as her older kids played together (I was embroiled in explaining to the boy why his jelly would fall out of his sandwich and dodging babe’s blueberry fingers). It’s not unbearably long before that’ll be me reading, and at any rate, the man pointed that I have an appetite for activity, so I’m always up late on the laptop with one project or another (blogging, assignments for my course, volunteer stuff for our church etc) so it’s not just the little ones wearing me out.
And it, all of it, is wonderfully worth it. I think.
stylebabystyle 
Roger all that CC, I can only tip my hat to all you Mums do while Dads are at work. 2 does indeed rock big style, hard work but weeeel worth! No doubt.