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Are my kids your birth control?
I’ve had several friends tell me that reading my blog and all of the “fun” I’m having with my boys has given them second thoughts about parenthood (just a delay, I hope – I don’t think I’m sending anyone to get fixed just yet). First of all, this does not offend me. Not in the least. I get it. Kids are a handful. Especially mine. If I had read this stuff years ago, it may have given me a little pause too. From an outsider looking in, sometimes it may seem that I live in a hell made by the little demons I created. And sometimes, that’s not far off. But most the…
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The things I didn’t know about myself… until I became a parent
Becoming a parent is an enlightening experience. You see life through a whole new lens – you gain an instant appreciation (and admiration) for your own parents; the screaming children on a plane or in a restaurant create empathy (for the parents) instead of anger; in the presence of your kids you develop critical eyes (and ears) for television and song lyrics and others’ conversations, constantly filtering for appropriateness. But the biggest change for me has been within… or a new vantage point to myself as I discover things about me that were unknown before kids. I can handle a lot more than I ever thought. Not that I ever…
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Bringing Home a Little Brother
When I found out I was pregnant with my second, I immediately started thinking about how it would impact my first. Little did he know that his whole world was going to be changing. I worried mostly about how he’d react without all the attention. With my world so full of him, I wondered how two would fit and where the sacrifices would be made. So my husband and I tried to be very deliberate about the choices we made when it came to introducing Beckett into our home. The first thing we had to tackle was the new nursery – Beckett was going to use the same crib and…
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The things I used to take for granted
I write this post from the plane, on our way back from a much-needed vacay to Vegas for my husband’s 30th birthday. This was a kid-free trip, and while I knew we needed to recharge, I was reminded of the simple things that we used to take for granted – before we were parents. Sleep. Uninterrupted sleep that begins and ends when you say so. There is a tiredness associated with parenthood that is incomparable to any other cause of fatigue. Yes, you can be tired from a late night of partying, an all-nighter studying or an overnight shift at work. But the parent version of tired is different because…
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What happened to my house?
Pre-kids, my home was reasonably put together, modernly decorated and clutter-free. My main living space downstairs was cozy and clean, a place for everything, and everything in its place. And then I got pregnant and started looking into the “equipment” necessary to care for a baby. I talked to experienced mothers to figure out what we needed. A pack-n-play, a swing, a changing station, activity mat, bouncy seat, Bumbo seat, Boppy pillows, and the list continued. Ok, I thought, it’s a lot of stuff, but it seemed reasonable. I’m not sure where I thought this stuff would go, but certainly not my comfy, cozy living space! As my due date…
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The Mommy Job Description
So apparently I never saw the real job description for the mommy position. Sure, I read the baby books that told me I’d feed them, change them and they’d take daily naps. I knew I’d love them unconditionally; I knew I’d laugh when they were silly and wipe away their tears. But somehow, I missed the fine print. I didn’t know that feeding them was not as simple as it sounded. Who knew it was such a pain in the butt to clean bottles? And let’s not even talk about the bottles that get forgotten in the bottom of the diaper bag for a couple days! Oh, feeding them is…
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The 2nd Kid
With my first son Brogan, I was on top of things! I was ready for and anticipating every milestone, eager for him to sit up, eat solid food, start crawling, start walking, start talking, you name it. He had a strict nap schedule that we didn’t mess with; we read him a book every night. I was very germ aware – he never sat in a grocery cart or restaurant high chair without the fancy cover. Eating day old puffs off the floor was strictly prohibited. I had angst watching him crawl across a not-quite-spotless floor, cringed when he put random things in his mouth. And then my second son…
