Linking up with Jen from Conversion Diary for yet another round of quick takes.
7 Things I Thought Were Easy- Until I Had a Baby.
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Opening the fridge. Sounds pretty easy, right? You just pull the handle and, voila, you can access all your refrigerated goods. Wrong! Opening the refrigerator is hard and I hate doing it. Some days it is the bane of my existence. Johnny loves the fridge. Every time I open it he crawls over as fast as he can and starts to pull out as many things as possible. When I pull him away and close the fridge he has a meltdown. So now instead of just opening the fridge at will like a normal person, I plan my fridge openings for times when Johnny will not see me, like when he's in his highchair. I make a mental list of all the things I will need to get out so I can grab them all in one well-planned opening. Or, I make a pile of things on the counter next to the fridge that need to be put away and quickly do them all at once while he's not looking. Sometimes he is looking but he's far enough away that I can get the fridge closed before he reaches it. Can you tell I think about this a lot?
//2//
Going to the bathroom. This everyday task was easy until Johnny became mobile. Now I have to weigh my options; let Johnny stay in the bathroom with me and risk him getting into stuff, or put him in his crib where he will scream until I come get him. Screaming baby? Or trash can emptied onto the floor? Either way my time in the bathroom is stressful. Which would you choose?
//3//
Leaving the house. I confess I have never been very good at leaving the house. I'm always late and always bringing to much stuff and always forgetting the stuff I really need. But now that I have a baby leaving the house takes me, I kid you not, at least 30 minutes. Get fresh diaper on baby, pack extra clean diapers, bundle baby up (winter), get sun hat (summer), grab diaper bag and baby, realize I forgot a water bottle for myself, put baby down, get water bottle, no more room in diaper bag, now holding diaper bag, baby and water bottle, now I have to go to the bathroom, put everything down, decide to leave Johnny in the bathroom with me while I go, clean up the mess he made while I was going, now he's stinky, change baby's diaper again. Finally we get outside, fish keys out of diaper bag while holding the baby and the water bottle, drop keys on the ground, and when I get Johnny buckled in his car seat I will realize I forgot something crucial, like his hearing aids or the meal I was going to bring someone or the item I was going to return at the store. You see? It's a terrible process, and I am predisposed to be bad at it.
//4//
Throwing something away. This problem is very similar to the fridge problem. Johnny is fascinated with the pop-top garbage can in the kitchen. He sits on the ground and pushes the foot lever, or pulls himself up on the garbage can (gross) and opens it with his hands (gross) and tries to reach in (extra gross). So I either make a pile of things on the counter that need to be tossed and do my tossing while he is otherwise occupied, or we block off the garbage can with things like his exersaucer and dining room chairs so then when I try to throw something away am wrestling with and tripping over the large, cumbersome and miscellaneous items stashed in our kitchen. It's a loose, loose situation.
//5//
Keeping things in drawers. Clothes, Tupperware, saran wrap, table clothes, towels, if it's in a drawer Johnny will pull it out. His favorite drawer is the one that holds Alex's sock and underwear. I've stopped picking up after him so there's always underwear all over the place.
//6//
Talking on the phone. I don't think Johnny really understands the concept of the phone yet. But I do think he thinks it's hilarious when I hold the phone to the side of my head because whenever I'm talking on the phone he screams and smiles and laughs. It's fine if it's Alex or my mom, but it tends to usually happen when I'm scheduling an appointment or talking to a prospective student's parent. So, like I do in many other situations, I save my phone calls for when Johnny is in his high chair.
//7//
Sleeping. Non-parents, isn't it great after a long day to crawl into bed, maybe do a little reading or peruse Facebook, then turn off your lamp and sleep until your alarm goes off? Or if it's the weekend, sleep until you just wake up naturally? Parents, remember how great that was? Sleep, or the lack thereof, is probably the hardest thing about having a baby. Sleep is broken and interrupted often. If you're like us and co-sleep, the sleeping you do can leave you feeling sore in the morning, and like you didn't actually sleep. I sleep for a few hours in any position that I like. Then Johnny comes into our bed and I'm only on my side, one arm under my pillow, the other balanced on my hip while Johnny nurses, kicks me in the bladder and sticks his fingers up my nose. But hey, I'll take whatever I can get.
Babies. They'll change your life forever!
But for every difficulty, inconvenience and annoyance, there are a thousand sweet hugs, peekaboo games of giggling, early morning snuggles, and everything's-new moments of discovery that make it all worth while.
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For more quick takes visit Conversion Diary!
Happy weekend!