In honor of my 100th post: A day in the life of.......

I'm always asked, "how are you handling having 2 small children?" in some manner or another. So here it is.

I'm not handling it. More like it's handling me. It is much harder than I ever imagined it would be. I always feel like the balance between the kids is always unfairly tipped in Sean's favor. I'll walk you through a typical day at my hut.

Meredith wakes up. I get her out of bed, grab a diaper & clothes for her and then stumble to the coffee machine (Flavia) and start a cup of coffee. I grab a drinkable yogurt, which obviously can't come fast enough. At least that's what you'd think by the screaming coming from right around my knees of "YOGURT!!!!!". I mix my coffee up and we head into the living room. I change Meredith & get her dressed. I usually clean the floors now too because Meredith always ends up on them.

I want you to take notice in there that the word "bathroom" is never mentioned.

We watch the news or Sesame Street, depending on what time it is, to give me 5 minutes to have some caffeine. Just as I put the cup to my mouth, Sean will inevitably wake up. So I go get Sean. Change him, dress him and get ready to nurse him. We fight the constant latch battle and he eventually gets fed. Meredith always decides that she NEEDS something RIGHT NOW as soon as Sean latches on well. And then she screams and carries on because I just can't get it for her. The other day Meredith stood on the couch behind me, used my pony tail as a horse's reign, jumped up & down with my hair in her hand yelling "GO!" while Sean was nursing.

30 minutes later (roughly), I make Meredith breakfast and Sean gets to do his exercises.

I want you to still take notice that the word "bathroom" is still not mentioned. I still have not made it there. I still haven't eaten and I still haven't had my coffee.

As we start Sean's exercises, Meredith will get her babies and we all do exercises and play for a little while. And these aren't special exercises. These are regular newborn/infant exercises, such as, tummy time, playing with toys, etc.

Then Sean is ready for a nap and I swaddle him and we start to unwind. Meredith gets jealous & bored and will make it her business to scream, speak loudly or demand something that I just can't get for her at that moment. She wakes Sean up like it's an olympic event. Fun fun. By the time Sean finally falls asleep, he's so overtired. As soon as he's asleep, Meredith walks away & wants nothing more to do with me.

By now, I'm usually doing the pee pee dance and run to the bathroom before I explode. Then it's time to reason...... i.e. bribe, Meredith into taking a nap. Aaaaahhhhhhh peace at last? Uh no. This is when I get to take care of bills, make important calls, eat a nibble and sometimes shower.

And then it's Sean's turn to be the first one up and the whole cycle starts again. This time with lunch.

2 hours (on average) after Meredith goes down, she wakes up. Usually by this time, Sean is just about ready to goto sleep again. So I make Meredith something to eat that she can eat herself and work on prepping Sean for another nap.

None of this takes into account that the dogs have to be fed. And if we're going out somewhere it's a whole different ball game. Somewhere in there I have to fit making sure I have everything I need for that particular outing packed and ready to go.

And just as soon as I think "great we're ready to walk out the door." Someone poops. And as soon as one kid is changed, the other one will poop. Just when I think "ok I'm safe", Meredith will spill something on herself. I now allow 45 minutes to an hour for us to get out of the house. Not to make it somewhere, just to make it out of the house & on our way.

Sean hates the stroller. Meredith did too. He'd prefer to be worn. It makes walking to places awfully difficult. Especially in 90+ degree heat with 90+% humidity. I do it because if I didn't, we'd never get out of the house, but it's a pain. I wish he could just hang out & enjoy the scenery or sleep.

I hardly eat. And when I do it's definitely not balanced. I hardly get to the bathroom and when I do, Meredith will follow me in & proudly exclaim "Yay!! Mommy made on the potty!" She does this in public bathrooms as well.

Afternoons aren't any easier when Rob gets home either. My kids still want me. Meredith still wants my attention. Sean still wants to nurse. Rob still wants to chat. The house still needs to be straightened up after Hurricane Meredith. Dinner still needs to be made. I do get to pee again though when he gets home.  Sometimes even in peace.

This cycle of children continues until about 9:30pm. That's when both kids are settled in for the night. Unfortunately, both kids tag team us at night as well. Meredith will wake up at least once. And so will Sean.

I also want you to notice that the word "bathroom" was only mentioned twice and I never did sit to drink a cup of coffee. We do get out for activities. We do all eventually eat & drink.

In the end it's an exhausting job. It's also the most rewarding job ever. I look at my kids and I wonder how I ever lived without them. I think about how much I worried about having 2 small kids so close in age and all that I worried about was...... well..... correct. But I don't feel the same dreadful anticipation about the worries like I did when I was worrying about them. I just muscle through it. I muscle through the tantrums. I muscle through the exhaustion. And I feel exhilarated when I look at them. I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when I watch them do or say something new.

Somehow everyday we adapt and find a new balance. And when they get a little older, it'll be a little easier. Some days I wish I had waited to have another baby until Meredith was just a little older, but most days I realize it wouldn't have made any difference when I had Sean. Sean won't be this small forever. And in a few weeks he'll be big enough to goto and maybe even enjoy all the fun fall things we love to do.