The grass will always be greener on the other side, but I'll have more fun playing in the weeds.
Today it was almost 60 glorious degrees outside and I took my brood out for a three hour walk.
We splashed in puddles, got ice cream, collected sticks, played at the park, threw rocks into the creek and got stuck in the mud...or at least Kyan did.
Being that this is Minnesota and it was one of the first really nice day in months and months, every puddle soaked, partially ice covered path was packed with people. There were couples with dogs, couples with strollers, new moms power walking off the baby pounds and families enjoying the day. What I noticed most while participating in my favorite sport of people watching were the people pushing just one baby in their compact little "travel systems."
The babies cruising in their luxurious rides were bundled up and fussed over at 10 ft intervals by their parents. Meanwhile, I had my two babies (toddlers now, I guess) in their lightweight coats and no hats, Brooklyn marching ahead of me and Kyan peacefully lolly gagging behind with an armful of sticks. As I contemplated these stark differences between new parents and mega parents, I tried to remember what I felt like when I just had Brooklyn. I thought back to the walks we took as a duo and wondered if I felt as peaceful as I imagined I would with only one small baby to look after. What I instead remembered was feeling unsure, overwhelmed at times and completely encompassed with making sure that this one small baby had all her needs met with my newly formed maternal instinct—it was exhausting.
Now, I am more confident in my parenting abilities and realize that babies aren't going to break if you don't fuss over them. I realize that as long as I am aware of our surroundings, kids are ok to wander in their own little word. In a word, I have learned to relax with each kid.
Sure there are days when I feel totally out of my element and long for the "ease" that comes with less children, but ultimately, for me at least, having a bunch at once has helped me to relieve my inner control freak from duty to enjoy the good times with my children more.
Brooklyn in her two year reign as an only child
We splashed in puddles, got ice cream, collected sticks, played at the park, threw rocks into the creek and got stuck in the mud...or at least Kyan did.
Being that this is Minnesota and it was one of the first really nice day in months and months, every puddle soaked, partially ice covered path was packed with people. There were couples with dogs, couples with strollers, new moms power walking off the baby pounds and families enjoying the day. What I noticed most while participating in my favorite sport of people watching were the people pushing just one baby in their compact little "travel systems."
The babies cruising in their luxurious rides were bundled up and fussed over at 10 ft intervals by their parents. Meanwhile, I had my two babies (toddlers now, I guess) in their lightweight coats and no hats, Brooklyn marching ahead of me and Kyan peacefully lolly gagging behind with an armful of sticks. As I contemplated these stark differences between new parents and mega parents, I tried to remember what I felt like when I just had Brooklyn. I thought back to the walks we took as a duo and wondered if I felt as peaceful as I imagined I would with only one small baby to look after. What I instead remembered was feeling unsure, overwhelmed at times and completely encompassed with making sure that this one small baby had all her needs met with my newly formed maternal instinct—it was exhausting.
Now, I am more confident in my parenting abilities and realize that babies aren't going to break if you don't fuss over them. I realize that as long as I am aware of our surroundings, kids are ok to wander in their own little word. In a word, I have learned to relax with each kid.
Sure there are days when I feel totally out of my element and long for the "ease" that comes with less children, but ultimately, for me at least, having a bunch at once has helped me to relieve my inner control freak from duty to enjoy the good times with my children more.
Brooklyn in her two year reign as an only child
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