Of course, I thought I had adequately planned and prepared to be a mom myself. I always knew I wanted children and so I had a lifetime to get ready for this role. (I did wait until I was 36 to have a baby, so that gave me plenty of time to prepare.) And, I truly thought I knew what I was getting into here. I am the oldest of 6 kids, so I had a hand in taking care of my 2 youngest brothers. I have about 100 first cousins, so I constantly babysat. During high school and college, I worked in day care centers and as a nanny. I have taken college courses on child education. I have babysat for my sisters more times than I can count.
Despite all of that preparation, I have come to the conclusion that I have no idea what the hell I am doing. That’s right, I said it. I am in the dark here. How did I reach this conclusion? Let me offer the following evidence to support my claim:
I can't keep my son out of trouble. He is into everything. Non-stop. He's a climber and can get into, or onto, pretty much anything he wants. He understands "no" but chooses to ignore it most of the time. I am so afraid he is going to kill himself with his fearlessness.
He won't stay out of drawers. Nothing is off-limits to him. Yes, here he is dragging my bras around to prove my point.
He won't stop putting everything in his mouth. And, I mean everything, except food that is. He doesn't want to eat anything anymore, but still chews on everything around the house or in public.
He is obsessed with me. He is by my side all the time. He loves his dad, but once Stuart gets home from work, it is like Jack feels the need to stake his claim. He throws a fit if Stuart tries to read him his bedtime stories, because it has to come from me. I can't get a moment's rest without Jack.
Worst of all, I can't figure out how to make him better when he is sick. That just kills me. He has slept with us for the last 5 nights straight and as a result, my back is killing me.
In conclusion, all of our preparation and training were inadequate. We are slowly losing the battle of the baby over here. Send help quick.
6 comments:
Teresa you are so cute the way you describe the joys of having a toddler. I know it will get better and just know for now joy comes when Little Jack is asleep!!!
You are a very caring mother
I always joke that no one gave me the manual for being a mother. I think alot of it is just going with the flow. And being able to get time for yourself every once in a while. I know that always helps me cope better with my kids.
My mom used to tell me that my primary objective as a mother to a child under 5 was just keeping him alive. So by the end of the day, if Evan is still breathing, I pat myself on the back. Because atleast I did one thing right :)
CALL ME!!! - Alex
After we get all this house stuff done, send him down for a few days. He'll either be over his "stuck to Mommy like glue" phase and let you move without being an attachment or he'll be so exhausted from crying that he'll sleep for 3 days straight - either way, you get a break!
Oh, he has no problem with me leaving him. None whatsoever. It's just when someone else is in the room, he has to let them know that I belong to him.
Joe was like that. He always had to stake his claim when Brian came home. It got to the point where Brian would walk in the door and Joe would point to him and say: "No Daddy!"
I love the last picture of you with Jack. It just looks like you've resigned yourself to the fact that Jack is just going to want to be around you all of the time. With Joe, I know that feeling well.
Also, none of us parents know what the hell we are doing. We just sort of figure it out as we go along and hope we don't mess it up too badly (at least that's what I do).
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