I have been taking care of a neighbor's baby for the past two weeks and I have re-learned/remembered a few things that I thought had permanently left my brain storage facility.
1. Just how much liquid can come out of a baby's body. I think I used every towel, washcloth and blanket in my house in three hours to wipe/mop up various excretions.
2. How quickly you have to get things done. I forgot having only a five or ten minute (if you're lucky) chunk of time to accomplish tasks. Forget showering. Actually, this has been good for me--I have been adopting the flylady techniques in cleaning my house. Focused and efficient. That's me these days.
3. I forgot that with a new baby around you have to lower your standards and your expectations in running your household. Last week I had the makings for five different dinners in the kitchen. Guess how many I made? Not one. By the end of the week I pulled a working mother trick: "Guess what, kids!? We're going to Guido's for dinner!"
4. What a Nazi you become when the baby is asleep. Poor Wilson and his friends have been pushed out into the cold (not that they are complaining!) this week to play while this little guy is asleep. I go around saying, "Shhhhhh" way too much.
5. How to wear a Baby Bjorn! My own babies LIVED in these things up until they were too heavy to lift. I tried to get the baby in one a few days ago and I looked like I was being attacked by a blue gingham monster. My arms were all twisted up and I practically choked to death trying to get all the straps untangled. I finally threw it down and carried him all the way to pick up Eliza from school. That's when my lower back and I remembered WHY you do wear a Baby Bjorn!
6. The most important thing I have learned? To appreciate the action that happens in my own home when I say to my nine and six year-olds, "Get your coats on and get in the car!" Or, "Brush your teeth and get in your pajamas!" And I don't have to do anything else to make those things happen. Wow.
The most wonderful part of taking care of this little peanut? I get to hand him to his mommy at the end of the day, give him a kiss on his fat cheek and then crash on the couch with my book and my own kids! Nothing could be better than that.
5 comments:
So Heather did this give you the "babybug?" or make you realize you'll be content to wait for grandbabies like me. I can't wait for that! I am amazed when I realize my mom had a two year old when she was my age!! How did she do it?
Ew.
Those are some things I definitely didn't mind forgetting ;-)
This is my life! Makes me long for curling up on the couch with a book or making it through a night without interruptions. I have a few years yet.
and... I LOVE flylady. I've been a fan for several years. Glad to see someone else is too
Notice that I didn't say anything about sleeping through the night! My kids will still be waking me in the middle of the night when they are in college, I'm sure.
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