Comments on: A Day in My Life (a few years ago)

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:55:35 +0000

I appreciate this post. This really is what it is like. I feel like I feed kids and change diapers every minute of every day. My life with my baby and toddler is very similar to what you described in this post. Add in three school age kids, and it looks more like this:

6 a.m. Feed baby to make sure she’s happy during morning routine.
6:15 Get kids up for morning routine
7:15 Drive 3 older kids to school
7:30-3:00 Change diapers, feed either baby or toddler. Put toddler down for nap and hopefully baby, too. Otherwise it’s just straight diapers and feeding over and over.
3-4 homework
4-6 make dinner
6 Eat dinner
7 If dad’s home, abandon four oldest kids. If dad’s not, do the night routine

I have to admit that this baby is the easiest baby I have ever had. Lay her down – she goes to sleep. Make her wait to eat so I can finish making dinner – she sucks her thumb. She even sleeps through the night (most of the time). I think the Lord knew I couldn’t handle another baby who was up multiple times. So, I’m grateful for that. But, still, this is a hard time.

I, too, am interested to hear how things have changed for you.

Oh, and Anna, I haven’t scrapbooked since 2003 – not since I was pregnant with #3. But things have changed since then. You can do it on the computer now! I am looking forward to starting that when I have a life again.

By: Ziff

Ziff — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:34:05 +0000

Vada, I recall reading this when it was first posted at fMh, but reading it again, I’m struck by how completely overwhelming your life at the time sounded. It sounds like something I as a reader can’t really begin to appreciate without experiencing it. I’m comforted to hear that you’re in a better, or at least less difficult place now with your kids being a little older.

I was wandering through the fMh archives a couple of months ago, and came across a very early post that Lisa wrote about similarly having her life sucked away by caring for very small children. Just like you, though, she had come back and commented on her post perhaps two years later and been surprised by how much easier parenting had gotten as her children had aged.

By: FoxyJ

FoxyJ — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:49:19 +0000

I’m getting ready for baby #3 in eight weeks and this post terrifies me. Intellectually I know that those first few months will pass and we’ll all survive, but I’m still scared. My other two are 6 and 3 1/2 so we’ve got big spacing, but that’s also because my last birth precipitated bad PPD that combined with a lot of horrible other events in my life to create a very, very bad year for all of us. This reminds me that I really need to go ahead and email the therapist my friend recommended because I’m going to be proactive about getting help this time!

By: Vada

Vada — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:50:12 +0000

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Michelle, I going to try to put up a post soon that I started about a year after this one. Then I’ll do a day in my life now post.

Anna, I’m glad it made you smile. I didn’t mean for it to make you see things could be a lot worse — just to make you see you could be doing a lot worse (because I’m pretty sure you’re doing more than I was — for instance, we rarely, if ever, left the house). And you don’t necessarily need to find something to accomplish every day (like scrapbooking or writing, though they’re both great things to do). Just make sure you manage to carve out a little time for something you want to do (which could be the aforementioned scrapbooking or writing, but could just be reading a good book). You’re doing enough work just making sure everyone remains alive. Trust me, it’s a full-time job.

Guinevere, good luck on your (and your children’s) survival! Remember, it does get better.

EmilyCC, I’m glad the post was comforting. That’s why I wrote it originally — so others would know that they weren’t alone in accomplishing nothing more than survival.

Eve, while two is a lot harder than one, it does get better. I’ll finish writing my next post so you can see how much better I was doing just a year after this. They start to play with each other and their needs aren’t so all-consuming. Also, I think it’s a little easier if they’re spread out more. Then you can get the older one to help a little bit (even if it’s just fetching a diaper and wipes for you). Good luck with whatever comes!

jkis and Jessawhy, thanks for the comments! It’s good to know that others have been there (and that they’ve moved past it).

By: Jessawhy

Jessawhy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:02:50 +0000

Vada,
Great post. Now that my baby is 2 it all seems like a foggy memory.

But, I was filling out a medical questionnaire about my menstrual cycle and I had to stop and think, “What is that like? Since 2005 I’ve been either pregnant, breastfeeding or had an IUD (which I thank God for everyday)”

Motherhood changes everything.

By: jks

jks — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:56:19 +0000

That first year after baby #2 was the worst year of my life. I remember.
Baby #4 is now 20 months old and #1 is 12 and it is SUCH a different life. Now I’m doing what I signed up for and it is way busy but really interesting and fun.

By: Eve

Eve — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:23:06 +0000

I feel as if I’ve spent most of the last two years of my life coping with pregnancy and the aftermath of childbirth. My daughter is thirteen months old, and I feel as if I’ve just emerged from the chaos this fall.

I really want another child, and this post scares the living daylights out of me.

By: EmilyCC

EmilyCC — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:52:38 +0000

Vada, I remember this post because it looked JUST like my life at the time, but I didn’t know it was you.

It was very comforting to know that someone else was just gettin’ by.

By: Guinevere

Guinevere — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:42:37 +0000

I read it the first time at FMH, where I discovered this blog. And now my 2nd is 3 months old, my 1st is 2 years old, and I’m trying to survive law school finals. Amen to just surviving!

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:17:37 +0000

I am the little sister. I smiled and realized that things could be a lot worse. Baby 2 still eats every two hours, but at least that’s just during the day…if it was at night too, I think I would be 6 feet under.

I did realize one thing the other day that might make me happier. I have resigned myself to the fact that I probably won’t be able to scrapbook much for a little while, because it takes way too much effort to pull out what I need to work on, but I can sit and write. I think I’d like to write more, so I am going to try to write a little everyday. Everyday I will read, write, and make sure kids don’t die.

Maybe I’ll have one extra thing a day, like you did Vada, like bills or laundry. But that’s a big maybe!