By Palak
I went back to work after having my son, but decided to stay at home after having my daughter. I lost quite a bit of precious sleep over the decision to quit; but eventually I decided to give staying at home a go.
When I was a working mom of one, I had quite a few delusions of how perfect my life would be if I wasn’t working—and how I’d be the absolute perfect mom. When I came home from the hospital I was completely overwhelmed! Caring for two kiddos so young required a brand new set of skills. Now that my youngest is 5 months old, I finally feel like I can take a breath! Here are a few things that helped me along the way:
Maintain consistency for Big Baby. Babies who are welcoming a younger sibling are going through a huge transition that they can barely comprehend. If you are also planning on moving from work to staying at home at the same time (or even just maternity leave) consider trying to keep his schedule as consistent as possible. We were lucky enough that our sitter stayed on for a few weeks after my daughter was born. My son still has the same naptime/eating routine during the day as he did before I quit my job. It’s made everything much easier.
Get help. Especially at the beginning. Bringing home a newborn is hard. Bringing home a newborn when you have a baby at home is even tougher. Even if you are no longer working, line up support from your spouse, neighbors, your mom—heck even your mother in law! (desperate times….) One great thing about having two kids so close in age is that your older baby is still a grandma-magnet. Milk it for all it’s worth. The extra hands will help ease those bumpy first few weeks.
Plan some time away every day. I was told over and over how much I’d crave social interaction when I was a SAHM; but I find myself wanting the absolute opposite. I crave the quiet. I now refuse to shower with either of my children. I take the 15 minutes (or more, if I can stretch it!) and just relax and listen to the sound of nobody whining. If you can swing it, try building a little time to yourself into every day.
I thought long and hard about what advice to give another mom going through this transition. As you can tell it all really boils down to "give yourself a break." I had hopes of going to every library story time, getting all my laundry folded, and never forgetting a single thing at the grocery store. Many of those dreams have been deferred-- just for a bit. Whether I'm working outside the home or not; I've come to realize it's just not my season for perfection. I'm learning to respect and enjoy the time of life that I'm in right now.
Palak is a brand new, stay at home, Baby Bunching mom to two beautiful babies aged 5 months and 21 months. If you want to read more about her adventures, hop on over to www.strawbazies.blogspot.com.
It is so important to take time for yourself when you are raising a family. Your challenges can be over whelming at times especially if your children are close in age. Then you find yourself speaking ga,ga goo,goo all day long even to another adult. Its hard to stop talking baby talk once your start and it sticks with you the rest of your life. This is not a bad thing though. In stead of calling your husband by his name your find yourself calling daddy and the same goes with mommy, ect. My kids are grown now and I am a grand parent and I call my husband Pappy instead by his name. When my kids came along they stared calling my mom MeMawl and before I knew it everybody and myself reffered to her as MeMawl for the rest of her life. This what creates memories. Finding that time for yourseld will help to keep the adult in you. Please visit my web site for any baby abd toddler items you may need. We carry quality baby and toddler products for your nursery and play area. http://www.babiestotoddler.com and http://www.babiestotoddler.com/baby-and-toddler-toys for your baby and toddler needs.
Posted by: Ruth Pfeiffer | Jul 24, 2011 at 12:08 PM
This is some great advice for new mothers. It's important to keep yourself happy along with your children.
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Many of us are busy with our everyday works. However, we should give ourselves also some break. We should find time to relax ourselves from problems and stress.
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