Surprise! You're a parent

Parenthood is full of surprises.  And I'm not just talking about the surprise of how much you will love your child.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I saw that coming.  I'm talking about the other "surprises" that affect your general being in ways you never could have expected.

Some of things that have taken me by surprise since becoming a parent are the following:

- The line at Chik Fila is never, ever, ever not long.  Even at 3pm when you think you will beat the crowd.  Even at 10:20 before they even start serving lunch.  But especially at 11:30 when you have a hangry toddler in the back seat crying for his "milky".  And of course at 5:30 when you want to get your kid and babysitter dinner and you show back up to your house after the babysitter gets there and just before you've eaten all your kids' fries.

- How long you can hold your bladder without peeing in your pants.  When you are out on the town with a toddler who has learned how to crawl under the bathroom stalls and away from you, you have a 30 second window to use the bathroom before they stop thinking toilet paper rolls are fun and flee the scene.  When you have a baby and a toddler, you are just totally screwed and might have to hold it until you become nauseous.

- You really need only 3 hours of good sleep to survive life.  And if you get 5+ you are Sleeping Beauty.

- Kids really do say the darnedest things.  Just this week I had Jack point out every single one of my spider veins on my legs and say, "Oh no, boo boo!"  And then a separate young child asked my if I was having a baby because my "tummy was so big".  I shutter at the thought of a full vocabulary from two children and the sweet things they might say to me then. 

- Toddlers are selfish monsters.  What's theirs is theirs and what's yours is definitely also theirs.  I could spend all afternoon making Jack a kid friendly meal for dinner that he usually loves.  But he will feed it to the dog in a heartbeat if it means he can steal my lettuce.

- As much as you can enjoy your children, when they are both asleep at the same time, there is no greater feeling of accomplishment in life.  And then the exact moment you sit down, one wakes up.

And finally,

- There simply isn't enough wine in the world. 

The surprises keep coming!!

Mother of two

Here are some things I've learned since having a second child.

Source

First of all, when you are trying to get ready to go somewhere, two kids is basically 100 kids.  It is chaos.  And someone always poops just when you think you are ready to walk out the door.

Second, and most of all, priorities and standards change.  A lot.

I specifically remember a morning when I was trying to get pregnant a few years ago and I accidentally exploded a smoothie all over my kitchen.  I was already overly emotional so I cried.  Then Rosie came to me and I thought she was going to be my spirit animal and hug me in her dog way.  But she just licked the smoothie off of my head.

Now if I can get shat on, boogerfied, and spill a fresh made meal on the floor before noon, I consider that a slow day.

Also, and this is more of a public acknowledgment of appearance, it is not lost on me that my kids are always dressed in pretty cute clothes and I walk around with them looking like an unshowered homeless person who has kidnapped them from their more put together mother.

Finally, free time is an absolute thing of the past.  Hence the radio silence on the blog.  Usually it isn't until 2:30 in the afternoon when both kids are asleep at the same time and then I just end up falling asleep in whatever chair I'm sitting in.

If I work out twice a week now I feel empowered.  If I sleep past 6:30 I consider that a miracle.  Things change.  Your body changes.  I feel like my stomach looks like an after picture of a Biggest Loser contestant before they have skin removal surgery.  And my belly button looks like what I imagine a 6 month old baby elephant's anus looks like.

I'm a model.

All this is to say that I'm obsessed with my kids and I plan on "getting my body back" in  about 2 years when Katie is in school too and I have some time to myself.  For now I'm enjoying the kids, being balls deep in diapers and dookie, and loving life!