The transition of "bringing baby home" is always a little rough. Our transition with Eliza has been MUCH smoother than with Violet, due to the easier delivery (not necessarily easier labor, but the VBAC recovery was SOOOO much better than the C-section recovery!). But the transition is an adjustment period whether it's baby #2 or #10. I forget how "spoiled" I was by having only children who could walk, talk, feed, and entertain themselves (for the most part). A newborn forces me to let the laundry slide, leave the living room messy at the end of the day, and plan simple meals (or forego the planning and just wing it with whatever is in the pantry).
The Type A part of my personality has a very hard time adjusting to this "slide" with each new baby. The crumbs under the dining room table are mocking me. The to-do list I made on June 11 (as in the day before my water broke) still sits on the counter just begging to be tackled. And I want to do stuff with my kids this summer - much of which cannot be done with a baby.
But then I remember that this phase of our life - Eliza's newborn-ness - is so very short. I do not know if I will ever have another newborn (I think I've said that four times - HA!), and I want to cherish every moment. And that means cherish the moments even if our days are spent hanging in the backyard with the kiddie pools and freeze pops instead of going to the beach or hang gliding or whatever other silly thing I imagine we could be doing in those moments of resentment at our "boring" summer. Cherish what it is and let go of what it is not.
(And, of course, it took me two weeks to actually finish this post, and Eliza is almost one month old. My time on the computer, scrapbooking, grocery shopping is very limited right now! On the other hand, I do a lot of sitting on the couch while nursing Eliza, so I have finished some really great books!)
3 comments:
I totally need to cherish it for what it is and let go of what it is not. I feel so guilty that besides our beach vacation we are doing NOTHING this summer. I don't feel like I can even tackle swimming at a normal pool with the kids because Israel still needs to be held in the water and then what do I do with Nairi? I see on facebook all the day trips and exciting things my friends do and all we do is play in the kiddie pool or swingset or ride bikes. The kids are perfectly content but I feel like I should be offering more stuff to do. Oh well. Good post!
Teresa~ Do not feel like you are/have 'cheated' any of the kids, as they too benefit and enjoy the newness of Eliza (or which ever baby!). As you say, once that time is past, you can never get it back. I think now how I would love to relive some of those awful, sleepless nights from 30+ years ago!! Enjoy every moment!!
Nice post Teresa. I remember feeling that way last summer even before Sarah was born! And this summer it has amounted to much the same simply because there are far more of them than me...hehehee. We don't get outside as often as I'd like, and we certainly won't be getting a vacation anytime soon, but at least once or twice a week I hear from at least one of the kids, "this was the best day ever Mom thanks!" and all we did was make a huge mess having popsicles and playing with water at the table. :0)
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