I've recently been thinking of my challenges as a mother, which aren't many, and thought I would share in hopes of getting some words of encouragement.
Challenge #1- Dressing and diapering a 9-month old.
For the past couple of weeks Jamison has been throwing major fits everytime we go to change his diaper and get him dressed. Yesterday the task ended up taking me 10 minutes before I finally took him into the living room to watch the dogs outside while I finished. Last night Mike got him ready for bed and had the same problem. He brought him to me and said "You better check his diaper for stability because I had to put it on while he was standing up." I couldn't help but laugh that this little boy has such an attitude!
Challenge #2- Keeping a clean house.
Ever since Jamison started crawling I feel like my house has been hit by a tornado. I'm home all day and yet it seems impossible to keep things clean. I'm not just talking about the toys all over the floor, I'm talking everything! My office which used to be organized is now sky high with papers and junk. My bed has not been made since Jamison was born. The living room seems to always be dusty. And the laundry is a never-ending job.
Challenge #3- Dinner on the table.
I feel that as a stay-at-home mom I should have dinner on the table when Mike gets home from work, yet it rarely happens. It seems the second I start to think about dinner, Jamison starts to get fussy and needs to be held. It doesn't seem fair that after being at work all day, Mike has to come home and fix his own dinner.
Challenge #4- Letting Jamison cry.
It is so hard for me to listen to Jamison cry. Whenever he bangs his head or gets frustrated I come running. Mike continually tells me that I'm spoiling him and that he needs to cry some things out. I agree with that, it's just heart-breaking to me. I have yet to let Jamison cry himself to sleep at night. Now that he is so old I'm afraid it's going to be a lot harder than expected!
I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining becuase I'm not. I am very grateful for my challenges and I know that they will strengthen me as a mother and wife. I know I'm not SuperMom and probably never will be, but a girl can dream right? At the end of the day, if the dishes aren't clean and the house is a mess I'm okay with that because I get to spend quality time with my son which is far more important than a spotless home.
Did I mention the bathroom?
7 comments:
Oh the joys of challenges. There's not much advice giving I could do. Everything happens on different time tables for every baby with a family. But here are a few pointers, if you would like to try them out. We had to stop the changing table area thing. We now change Jack between our legs on the floor. We pin his arms under our legs. He still squirms and fights it with all his might, but it works much better. I totally can relate to Mike. I changed quite a few diapers standing up, before we started the leg pinning. Hope you are doing lovely. Love you lots!
I loved reading your entry because it sounds like my challenges. Lucy just turned 10 months on Sunday and she is going through the whole squirm thing while I am trying to change her diaper. It is a huge battle, but I try and give her something to play with like my cell phone(probably not the best idea, but hey, it works). or a cool toy. I also do the pin the baby between the legs thing. All of my kids have done it and they grow out of it. Oh, the joys of being a mother....it is truly the best thing ever, but it can also be seriously hard & challenging. It is good to know that we are all pretty much having similar challenges. As far as keeping the house clean....never heard of it. Oh well. Little Jamison is a cutie, just enjoy!
When the twins were 10 months we had 6 baby gates up at all times throughout our house! I'm sure when I bought 6 gates at one time people probably thought I worked a zoo. When our kids were that age Josh would go through as soon as they were all in bed and he would clean the house while I made dinner for the next day. Also, the crock pot can be your best friend. I have a few recipes if you need them and I bet Julie has some. Right Julie? I agree with Julie, a clean house and dinner on the table are the little things. When he's older you'll get back into your routine. Until then Good Luck!
Hi Keli,it's great to catch up and see how well your cute little family is doing. We have finally gotten a blog of our very own - http://pinbrouwer.blogspot.com/ We love and miss you guys. When are you coming in town again?
Keli, you are doing a great job as a parent! All those things you listed are de ja vu for most of us stay at home mothers. We all feel the same way... at least I do! We are all in this together! :)
I loved catching up on everything on your blog. You trip to Monteray looked amazing! How fun. And Jamison is really getting bigger.
We'll have to have you up again. We would love to get together again. We are coming to your ward on March 16th when the Williams boys speak in church. We are excited for that. Hope all is well. Keep up the great work!
It's fun to read all these comments from other moms. I think I've been fairly well saturated with what life will really be like when I start having kids - but all the moms out there might be rolling their eyes, thinking otherwise. Anyway, your family is adorable and I know you do a great job as a wife and mom. I love you guys!
PS - I know I'm biased, but Jamison should be a baby Gap model...he's delish.
first of all, i second the motion about jamison being a baby gap model.:)
your challenges are familiar ones. the housework never gets easier, honestly, at least not from where i stand. it just helps me to try to pick up several times a day--to spend 5 or 10 minutes every time he goes down for a nap or at bedtime picking up. it doesn't take long. that way you can kind of stay on top of it and things stay picked up until he wakes up at least!:)
as for dinner, when i have babies that are fussy in the evenings, i try to start on dinner the first chance i get--even if it's 10 am. the most important thing is to have a plan so that you already have the food you need and know what you are going to do. then you can make dinner early in the day and reheat it at dinner time or at least get your prep work done. i'm not always perfect at it, but i do really try to have dinner at least on its way to being made when jared gets home so that he knows that he is my priority, too.
i try to remember that babies grow out of the wiggly diaper changing stage, but it's hard when you are in the thick of it (we're in the same boat.) i always change my crawlers/toddlers on the floor.
anyway, hope this helps. you are obviously doing a great job and have already figured out that the housework and food is secondary to caring for jamison's other needs.
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