Wow!! I don't remember my first maternity leave being this much work. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I am just finally admitting that everyone who warned me was right. Having 2 children is a lot more work. I am now on my maternity leave with 2 daughters. My eldest is 4 years old and my youngest is 4 months old. I remember my first maternity leave consisting of feeding the baby and changing the baby. I remember my daughter sleeping a lot and during that time, I was able to take her shopping, take her visiting and crocheting A LOT. I had enough time to crochet sweaters, stuffed animals and lots of baby clothes. That was with one child...Two girls... Now everything takes so much longer. Getting ready to go anywhere takes at least 30 minutes to an hour longer. My oldest daughter required some time to adjust to no longer being #1. Whenever I am feeding the baby, she needs to be near if not on my lap at the same time. Now when the baby is sleeping, time is spent with my eldest teaching her to learn her numbers and letters, playing games or doing crafts. What happened to the crocheting and ME time? Well thanks to my husband, I do get time for me in the evening or on his days off.
Now on the bright side, I love my 2 girls. Being 4 years apart, my eldest is a big help. If I need a clean sleeper or a receiving blanket, she is more than happy to run upstairs and get it for me. She wants to help out with everything. This requires some patience on my part. There are just some things a 4-year old can't do. With a learning curve on my part, I have learned to negotiate and provide options to my daughter and that lets her believe that she is in charge and feels like she is still helping me. The best part about having the 2 of them at home gives me a second chance to spend time with my eldest whereas before she was 5 days a week in daycare.
When we chose to have 2 children, one of the first things I thought was: "Great!! Now I can do everything better the second time around!" Sometimes this is true but not always. Having one child does not prepare you for everything. Sometimes, I can't believe how 2 girls can be so different or did I just forget some of the things I learned the first time. For instance, I remember my eldest being a quiet baby and dealing with teething like a champ. Well, my youngest has her one-hour a night, where sometimes nothing makes her happy. Thank goodness that one-hour is at 8pm and not 2am.
Watching all the cute little things that the baby does, makes me sad at how much I have forgotten about when my eldest was a baby. This has prompted me to start blogging and perhaps capture the cute and memorable moments of both of their lives.
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