August 2012 Moms
sosoph
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moms with toddlers -- check-in
sosoph
member
Per the fffc thread, what's currently the good bad and ugly?
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Re: moms with toddlers -- check-in
Good: Potty trained!
Bad: Asking "why?" 5,000,000 times a day
Ugly: Blatant disobedience (it doesn't happen often, but still not fun)
ETA: The above are just DD's good, bad and ugly. The GB&U of having a toddler and and infant:
Good: Both nap at the same time in the afternoon. DS giggling watching DD play.
Bad: Trying to keep everybody happy & safe at the same time. Neither one is very patient.
Ugly: Trying to coordinate bedtime when they go down at the same time now that they share a room. DD always takes longer to get ready for bed, so I am trying to keep a tired DS entertained for a few more minutes so they can go to bed at the same time.
Luckily, when DD takes a nap, she gets to stay up later, so this doesn't happen every day.
the good: I get two nice periods of play a day, they take a nap at the same time in the afternoon, and overall I seem to have a routine that I can manage going. Hmm, those don't seem like great highlights! They have brief moments of actual interaction now and the baby is so excited to see his sister every morning.
the bad: I am so tired (this was probably the ugly a few months ago, so progress). I sort of feel like parts of the day are still triage, just running back and forth between the neediest case.
the ugly: it's the toddler tantrums, for sure. I made the mistake of thinking we were over the double stroller and let the toddler walk, only to have her totally melt down, leaving me needing to carry the baby, her and groceries out of a store. Twice, and the stroller is back in rotation. I still pretty much hate nursing a baby while chasing a toddler, even though I am glad to be breastfeeding my son.
Good: They are playing together more now & it's pretty cute. DS still sleeps like a champ, which I take for granted, but I know is not the case for many other toddlers. They are both generally well behaved in public. I may be biased, but both my kids are pretty freakin' adorable when they are behaving.
Bad: DS is nowhere near being ready to potty train. I hate having to repeat myself 8,534,203 times per day, the same instructions over & over. He's getting into stuff more - like pumping the soap out of the containers & going in the pantry & eating stuff, getting our deodorant & clawing it up making a mess.
Ugly: The way I've been handling things most of the time. The double dose of whining & crying from both kids sends me over the edge. The not listening & creating more messes for me to clean up sends me over the edge. A lot of things send me over the edge.
I don't have time to write mine bc DS2 just woke up, but thank you for this, reading these posts make my life seem normal and remind me that I'm not the only one!
Proud Mama to cleft cutie
Good: I am on board with the potty trained boat.
Bad: Trying to figure out how to get the six of us back to Canada at the end of the school year. We are flying, but it will be me and the kids. I am thinking of flying my parents out to help get us home.
Ugly: everyone but him sleeps through the night. Three am for the last week, is hey lets play.
Yes & no. I think they would have had to be 3+ years apart to make a big difference.
I have heard this too. Mine will only be 1 year apart in school most likely, and I have heard that is easier than having them spread across elementary/middle/high school, etc. I'm sure it's all trade-offs though. Plusses & minuses.
I had to decide this week between a solo 12-hr drive or a flight (with one layover) with the kids.
I love, love, love that they won't remember life without each other. I think what's hard about the 20-ish mo age difference is that you're handing the toddler years with a baby in your arms. The baby seems so easy (at least to me).
Did anyone else read this last week?
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/opinion/sunday/bruni-the-gift-of-siblings.html?pagewanted=all
This is tough to answer, since I really don't know how tough/easy it is to have kids further apart.
I don't regret the spacing of ours (25 months). Yes, it might be a little easier in some ways if DD was a little more independent. But she also was never jealous of DS, possibly because she doesn't remember much before him.
Thank you for making me feel not so bad! Sounds like our boys are about a month apart, and I feel like all these girls I know who are younger than DS are potty training. DS was happy as a clam this morning - when I went into his room he looked up & said "I'm playing in the bed!" with a big smile... he had a huge diarrhea poop in his diaper. Did not bother him in. the. least. It's gonna be a while.