Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A Day in the Life with 2 Under 2

I was speaking with a friend today, and she asked me about how life really was with 2 under 2.  I got to talking to her about funny daily occurrences, and it reminded me of a story that I have been meaning to share on the blog.

A Day in the Life With 2 Under 2

A few weeks back I was being oh so kind and had agreed to babysit for a friend.  I had a fun day planned with Caleb, my friends little boy, and a few other of Caleb's friends. We were having a small play date in our backyard, equipped with pool, sand box, and balls.  Mckinlee was oh so precious and slept through most of the play date, and the boys enjoyed running around and playing together. The day was actually going great. 

After the play date ended, Mckinlee awoke and was ready to eat.  The boys still wanted to play outside, and since our yard faced a wooded area, and our porch was covered, I decided I would nurse Mckinlee outside while they played.  I sat down on the patio chair, latched Mckinlee and continued to watch the boys play in the sand.  I have failed to mention previously that only the front of our yard was mowed.  Hubby had not gotten around to the back of the yard yet, and therefore the boys were not allowed to play back there.  I was having a mama moment watching my little man frolic and play unaware that my peaceful summer day was about to take a turn for the worst. 

Caleb being the sweet, wild, adventurous toddler that he is decided that mamas rule to stay in the front of the yard was not one that he needed to listen to. I mean after all he does not quite understand the concept of poisonous snakes and other creatures that are sure to bring death that could be lurking in those long, green flakes of grass.  Oh no to him it was just more room to run and explore.  I saw him start walking toward the backyard, and I immediately said "Caleb, stay up here do not go back there".  He looked and continued to walk.  I again said "Caleb one, two,..if I say three you will (insert punishment).  He still continued to "frolic" rather quickly now towards the death grass.  This is when the dilemma in my head began.  A dilemma that only a mom of 2 under 2 would understand.  Is this really a moment worth taking action on, or I am overreacting.  Aka....do I really have to get off my butt and cause both my children to start screaming at the exact moment?  Unfortunately the death grass caused this to indeed be one of those moments. Sooo...

I told the other little boy to stay at the sand box, I swooped up my daughter (who by the way was STILL NURSING), and began walking towards Caleb.  Caleb sees me coming, and begins to run to the VERY BACK OF THE YARD.  I may have failed to mention that it was a VERY LONG YARD.  So lets take a moment and picture this.  I am running/waddling quickly through my death grass with my shirt pulled up, a baby attached to my tit, trying not to flash my neighbor who is mowing his lawn, and trying to catch my running toddler.  Get the picture?  Lets reflect on that for a moment....

Okay, so when I finally reach Caleb I grab his hand to walk him back to the house, and he immediately throws himself on the ground and starts kicking and screaming. I am talking full out terrible 2 tantrum.  I am trying to get him to stand up, promising immediate punishment if he does not listen, all while NURSING A BABY!!! Lets reflect on that a moment...

I of course am not strong enough to scoop my 27 lb child who is kicking and screaming up with one arm, nor can I get him to stand on his own.  So, I had to step out of the death grass, run my daughter to a flat spot of the yard, break he latch and lay he down.  Guess who was not happy! I then had to run towards my toddler who is now rolling in the death grass, pick him up, take him to the porch, and place him in time out all while he and bundle are SCREAMING!!!!

Fast forward one minute....bundle is latched again, Caleb has said sorry and is out of time out.  I sit back down, finally calm down, and take a breath.  I will be darn if my little stinker of a son who is so stubborn (like his mama), goes BACK TO THE DEATH GRASS!! Guess who had to repeat the entire process again?? This mama! Baby attached to boob and all!! Guess who went immediately inside this time??? THIS FAMILY + (child I was babysitting who Thank God was kind and minded during this incident).

Fast forward to coming inside. Mckinlee is still trying to eat, because God knows with all the stress I was not letting down very much milk! Both of the boys were covered in sand.  I mean COVERED!! I decided to run them a bath, sat Mckinlee down for a minute to get them undressed, she is SCREAMING, Caleb is SCREAMING because he did not want to come inside. I was hoping the bath with his friend would fix it! Man was I wrong!!!

I place both boys in the bath, latch Mckinlee and sit on the bathroom floor. My son decides he is going to CLIMB OUT OF THE BATH!! He has never done this before nor does he know how to. He slips, falls, and hits his face.  I lay Mckinlee down again, check his face, calm him down, and place him back in the bath!! I will be darned if he does not climb out and fall again.  At this point I am crying to. I am so stressed. My son is banging the bathroom door screaming for dada. I kept assuring him that I as well wished dada was there at that moment.

So...I sat there in the bathroom floor, crying, listening to my son bang the door and scream, finished nursing, finished bathing the little boy, swooped up my son, placed him in bed, and shut the door. I then dressed the little boy, picked up Mckinlee and breathed a sigh of relief once Caleb fell asleep. 

Yep......life with two under two can be like that.......but it is worth it :). 
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2 comments:

Erin said...

So I laughed and cried for you through that whole story! You are such a great Mama even though you feel overwhelmed!

K said...

What a good eater that she could stay latched on during all that! Sounds like it's time to mow the lawn :)