The other day was my first extended stretch with both girls on my own.
You can take a guess as to how that went.
Ups and downs on my own as a mom of 2 kids
Much of it was a shitshow—imagine both children screaming, the macaroni boiling over and my boobs leaking all over the place. (At least Finn was well behaved.) I did, however, manage a minor miracle: I put Peeper down for a nap while holding Kiwi, too.
Honestly, I have no clue how it happened and have zero hope to repeating it anytime soon. I held Kiwi in one arm and Peeper in the other with a book on my lap. We went through Peeper’s whole routine, reading books and drinking milk and rocking. Then it came time to turn out the light and sing her wind-down songs.
As I sang and rocked them in the dark, Peeper kept lifting her head from my shoulder and touching Kiwi’s head. “You’re petting that baby,” she whispered, then went back to resting on me. Somehow—someway—I got Peeper into her crib and that was that.
Holding on to the good
Much of the day was hard. At one point I texted Eric, informing him that we were not having any more children. I was scrambling.
But that moment of Peeper tenderly touching her little sister’s head—that was pure beauty. Peeper may later ask to send Kiwi back to the hospital or put her back in my belly, but this is the story I’ll tell over and over again about their early days learning to be each other’s sister.
See? I’ll say. You loved each other from the start.
I can’t even imagine have physically or emotionally draining that would be! It requires a lot of creativity and fast-thinking to survive in that kind of situation!! Way to go, mama!
My girls are almost exactly two years apart and those early years were so incredibly difficult. I lived for the precious moments, like the one described here. Each one gave me the energy to wade through the shitshow. Hang in there! Let me know if you need anything.
It is so rough at first, but so beautiful when the roughness has (largely) assed. Those moments between the kids make it all worth it. ♡
So lovely. Even though it often doesn’t feel like it, these are the BEST days of our lives. When our children are young and it’s all new for us both.
Those first few days of solo-ing it can be so tough. You did awesome! I remember having a super easy day feeling so proud that I had it all together, and then a total shitshow the next day wondering how we would all survive. It’s all day by day. Those sweet moments like the one you captured here are definitely the ones to hold onto to propel you forward. Great job, mama!
The gal in front of me on a flight recently had twin babies and until that moment I never realized how hard that must truly be. Hang in there.
This stressed me out just reading. I can’t image the juggling act that mom’s deal with everyday. It makes me so thankful for my mom and dad and how much they did for me as a kid!
This post made me smile, cringe for you, giggle and sigh. Aww man, having kids must be a lot to juggle. But hang in there! And I’m sure they’ll be amazing siblings when they get used to each other! 🙂
What you echoed here is what I hear from most parents. “Why did we have kids again?” And then they do something disgustingly tender, and you think that it’s all worth it.
Such a dichotomy.
Congrats Catherine on the new addition to your family! It is definitely hard adjusting to having two. But on the plus side, it keeps you so busy that time goes by faster…
You got this. Here’s to many, many more of those moments in your future.