Dear Margaret,
DO NOT HAVE ANYMORE KIDS! This is hard. You are exhausted! The baby cries... a lot. Here is your typical night... You come home from work at 5:45pm after picking up the kids from daycare only to pray that the baby will go to sleep so you can make dinner. That prayer is seldom answered so you end up sticking her in her bouncer in the kitchen so she can scream bloody murder while you attempt to throw something together to eat. Wait where is Max in all this? Oh right, he's with the babysitter, a.k.a the television. All at the same time the baby needs to eat, Max needs a new TV show and dinner is ready so you feed the baby while changing the channel and run over to take the whatever out of the oven/off the stove.
Luke comes home from work/hockey practice and grabs dinner while you carry the baby around and put together Max's plate (which typically consists of almost nothing you made for you and Luke so you are making another dinner while juggling the baby). You try to put the baby to sleep in your room so you can sit down to eat. She seems content so you walk out to the dinning room as quiet as possible. You grab a plate and sit down to eat. Luke shouts across the table "MAX! HOW WAS YOUR DAY!" Baby's now crying and your still hungry. Sh*#t! You shush everyone (as usual) and roll your eyes as you go back into the bedroom to quiet the baby. She seems content so you sneak back out to the dinning room to try and eat again. You take a few quick bites only to be interrupted again by a crying baby. You again roll your eyes get up and go into the room to try and quiet her. She finally seems to be content again so you sneak out into the dinning room and find Max has thrown all of his food on the floor/rubbed it through his hair. He's mid toss when you run over and intercept the food while whispering NO!. You softly scold him for throwing his food and ask if he's done. He is so you clean him up and set him free from the table. Wait, where is Luke in all this? Oh right, he's with the babysitter, the television. Luke is done eating so he's laying on the couch watching TV and you attempt to sit down and finally finish your dinner.
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| Sharing the TV for once :) |
Max tells Luke he wants to watch his show and Luke says no he's watching a show so they begin arguing and... the baby starts crying! You roll your eyes, get up from the table SHUSH EVERYONE AGAIN and sneak into the bedroom to quiet the baby. By the time you get back out into the living room, it's trashed, Luke is still laying on the couch and your dinner is cold. You decide to not finish your food but instead get a head start on dishes, making your lunch and packing the diaper bag for the next day. You would think that after not being able to eat your food you would have lost the baby weight like last time but this time it's fighting to stick with you. You still can't fit into any normal clothes and are starting to wonder if you will need to buy a whole new wardrobe.
After the dishes are done you get Max into the tub for a bath and while you are attempting to relax for a few minutes with a magazine you hear the baby begin crying in the bedroom. This time you let her scream like crazy because you can't leave Max in the tub. You look back to your magazine but are brought back to reality again by an entire large cup of water being pored over the side of the tub and onto the bathroom floor, soaking your feet, pants and bath rug in the process. The mix of screaming baby, wet feet and husband laying on the couch sends you over the edge... you take a deep breath. Take away the cup, causing your 2 year old to begin a screaming contest with the baby. You want to join in but you are the adult here... right?!
Max and Luke both finally go to bed but you and the baby are up feeding, changing, burping... 1-2 hours later you finally get her back to sleep and you are out cold. 1 hour later, Max is up crying. Luke doesn't hear a thing so you climb out of bed (very quietly so you don't wake the baby) go check on Max come back to bed and you are off to sleep again. 1-2 hours later you are up again with the baby feeding, changing burping... 1 hour later she's back asleep and so are you. 1-2 hours later Max is up again... do you see a pattern here? You alarm goes off at 6am and you are so delirious you aren't sure where the noise is coming from. You snooze it without realizing... but the noise woke up the baby so you are up.
Thank God for Coffee.
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To follow-up 4 months later. This has gotten better. Now Luke gives Max his bath while you do the dishes. They still argue over the TV. The baby doesn't cry as much thanks to Dr. Ben at Blue River Chiropractic. You are beginning to fit into your clothes again. Some nights the kids sleep better than others. You still thank God for Coffee every morning :)
Sincerely,
Margaret January 2013
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| All mommy wants is a Silent Night :) |
