Last month I emailed a friend who has 2 children with the same age difference as mine. Her youngest is about 8 months old, so she has had a bit more time to get used to her new setup. I asked, "How long does it take until it gets easier?" When she wrote back she informed me, kindly, that it doesn't get easier. "But you get better at managing the chaos. You also figure out a routine that helps you to manage both kids at the same time, and it will seem easier." I appreciated her candidness.
A few weeks ago I had a particularly crazy week with the kids. I did not have a schedule worked for them/me yet, and I literally spent all week tending to either one kid or the other. Jayce had only taken a nap one day that week, and when I was feeling particularly frazzled that Thursday evening I realized that I had only had one hour to myself the whole week. Anyone who has gone through the "end of the nap phase" can remember how, one of the worst things about it, is that every day there is the chance that your child might sleep that day, and therefore you might have some free time yourself.
Or, instead of relaxing/sleeping, you might spend that time constantly answering calls from a child who wants to leave their room, listening to constant stalling tactics to avoid sleeping, or repeatedly ushering your child back to his room and bed. This was my week, and my "free time."
As I was recounting my day to Chris, feeling (and probably looking) very frazzled, he offered to take Jayce Saturday morning for some boy time. That way I could rest a bit and have some time alone with Hannah.
They went put putting. :)
I was thrilled for this little outing because I really needed the break. But I was sad to miss out on the fun! I made Chris promise to send me lots of pictures and he did.
Jayce has always loved to golf. Even when he was barely walking he liked to swing a golf club, some friends of ours even cut down a real club for him. But this has never happened anywhere other than in the yard or the house, or occasionally the bed, and Jayce was loving it.
I was a little worried about the putting part. Jayce has always been exclusively a driver. (Is that what it's called? I'm not up on my golf lingo. He likes to hit the ball far.)
But apparently all was well. His swing was controlled, they got to the course early enough that they could take their time a bit and not worry about the people behind/in front of them for a while, and he had a blast. I got this picture and immediately texted Chris, "Get him some water!" It was a hot one that day, not that it mattered to him.
When they left the golf course they headed over to Target for Jayce to pick out a backpack for school, a stop that was mandated by me before they left. I was a little sad to miss this too, but true to form, my boy ran straight to the Lightening McQueen bag and was done. Apparently he shops like his dad, quick and precise. No looking around to see if there is something else, no debating between a few options.
While they were gone, Hannah and I had a quiet time together. It was not entirely restful as I had hoped, she was a bit fussy that morning so I spent much of their time away feeding, rocking, walking, and feeding her again. Eventually she fell asleep though as did I, and now we are ready to take on another week.
Chris and Jayce got home around lunchtime, and wouldn't you know it, Jayce was so tired that he actually couldn't fall asleep. Crazy kid.
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