I have two children. I also love my two children quite deeply. I can’t imagine life without either of them. Both are a complete joy in their own ways. However, I’m also sure I am crazy for adding a second child to my family. Every day I am finding new ways as to why having two children makes you completely insane.
1- You never get to sit down for more than 3 minutes.
As soon as you try, someone needs a butt wiped, someone is crawling where they don’t belong, someone needs a bottle, someone need something from a high shelf, etc. You can pretty much give up on sitting every again. Even sitting to feed a baby is next to impossible once that baby becomes curious about the world around here.
2- Showering becomes a timed event.
If you had a few years between children, you probably got used to the fact that you could shower while they watched a show or napped. Not true anymore! I cut my hair to shave 5 minutes off my showering time. Oh and shaving? Good luck with that.
3- You will never get quiet ever again.
Okay. That might be an exaggeration. But only a slight one. It seems like someone is always talking, crying, singing, or whining. Those magical days where they both nap at the same time? Enjoy them. That might be the only quiet you get for the next week.
4- Colds just circle around the family.
No joke. As I’m writing this, I think we are finally at the end of a month long family cold. We had about 3 weeks off between this one and the last one. Something about adding a second child actually increased the family illness time by quite a bit. It didn’t add, it multiplied.
5- You’re always feeding someone
I’m convinced I spend my entire day either feeding someone or preparing to feed someone or cleaning up from feeding someone. Someone always wants a meal, a snack, a bottle, something! I’m pretty sure I should just put a cot in the kitchen, I spend so much time there.
6- The fighting/competing
I’m so surprised how early the fight began. At the time of writing this, the oldest is 4 and the youngest is 10 months. They already fight over how to play with each other. They already push each other out of the way to get my attention. This leads to me never having a moment to myself unless they are both sleeping. Which leads me to my next point.
7- Sleep is a thing of the past
Previously, I could sleep pretty much when I wanted to. My sleep was only interrupted by the occasional illness or nightmare. Now? Now if I get a whole night without someone crying I wake up the next morning wondering if both children are still breathing. The sleep deprivation alone will make you crazy. Or at least make you think you are.
8- Going anywhere becomes a production
And I do mean production. There should be musical numbers and everything, it’s that big of a deal. You no sooner get everyone fed (see #5) and out the door when someone is hungry again. Or worse. They need a nap. But you just role with it because the only roll of toilet paper left in the house is half gone. Grocery shopping is a must. You get to the grocery store, manage to get both kids into the store and then tunnel vision kicks in. Sure, there are other people there but you have no idea if they are male, female, young, old. All you know is “Oh, a person. There’s a person to the left. Do not run into person with cart.” By the time you get back home from whatever outing you took, it’s time for everyone to have a nap, especially Mom.
Have 2 kids? Welcome to being completely insane! 😉 Find out why this is true Click To Tweet9- There are toys everywhere
You used to be able to contain the toy mess. The rule was clean up before lunch, dinner, and bed. Then you had a second child and there were two different categories of toys: big kid and baby. The big kid toys do get cleaned up but as soon as the baby is crawling, their toys end up everywhere! And in the strangest places.
10- You’re not sure how your lap is big enough
But it is. Both children fit in your arms at the same time and they end up there quite often. You may have more than twice as much work, far less energy and sleep but somehow, just somehow, it’s all worth it. Somehow the love in your heart more than doubled. Not only do you have this new child that you absolutely love and your first born whom you absolutely love, but you also get to watch those two love each other without abandon. You know that it won’t always be that way but it brings joy to your heart to see how much those two siblings love each other just for existing.
Sure, having two children does make you completely insane. I’m not entirely sure what my name is on any given day. But it is so incredibly worth it! I had my moments in the early days of two kids of wondering if it ever got better. It does. It also gets a different type of hard and crazy. But so, so very worth it. <3
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