A second and a very different roller coaster ride begun after being a second time mom. There was two little pair of blinking eyes demanding attention, food and care. And somehow demands don’t end and time is limited. Not to mention adjusting with your spouse too. You have all your fingers and your thumbs too in different pies...and yet, it’s a blessing indeed.
I’m an extremely content mother of two – son Arjun, who is six and daughter Siya, who is 2.5 years old.
Trust me it is such a joy having a full house. However, I have some honest confessions to make about my journey of motherhood the second time round.
Yes, you heard it right. Read on to find out:
1. I was way more relaxed parent the second time. Simply because I didn’t panic assessing developmental milestones of my daughter as I did for Arjun. It was okay with me if she was some 300 grams underweight. I knew that she will manage her body perfectly. I am however, more worried about my extra 7 kilos, to be precise.
2. And yes, I am not clicking pictures every second, of any new thing that my daughter is doing new. I have close to 6000 pictures of Arjun by now. There is no time to organise or even have a look at those moments. Come on.
3. As long as food goes in their tiny mouths, I didn’t care so much where they eat it from. Did you just say – the floor? Well, it is mopped clean with Dettol every day. Don’t give me that stare!
4. I’m not particular about carrying baby food with me all the time wherever I go. It is okay to dine out and sample various things as long as they are edible. I remember carrying cheese crackers, banana, juice, water, etc. for Arjun at all times of which he never tasted anything. Why waste time and effort?
5. I don’t believe in dressing up my second child as a model at all times. I think I’m done with that. I better concentrate on washing and folding laundry. Matching shoes and hair-clips is so out of the window. They are appropriately covered. That will suffice.
6. I’m not finicky about not having a spick and span house. Does the house appear like a loot just happened?
Well, you probably have not had kids at home. Period. I always had a messy house and had no real regrets. When Arjun came, he made me realise my house needed tidying, which I did, wasting my precious time instead of spending it with him.
7. I didn’t pick up Siya immediately after she used to start crying. I let her manage and handle the situation, err... while I handle my situation. When she seems to be on the verge of getting helpless I come in the scene. Arjun was such a pampered baby, a little moan and I attended him. Now I let him take care of his sister.
8. I was not finicky about age-appropriate toys, bottles, food, diapers, and many more related things. My younger one loves Arjun’s super heroes and cars. As long as the demand does not come verbally from her, why fuss? She is happy.
9. I hardly made any birthday or anniversary calls for 2 years. People will enjoy their day anyway, even if I don’t call. Where is the time to recall dates when I used to forget to buy the baby formula? I think God will grant me heaven seeing my ordeal on earth.
10. No fancy baby tableware items for me now. The basic ware suffices and rather works better than all the fancy stuff I had collected for Arjun. A baby does not even realise the difference and I do not become any less of a parent if I focus on the simple, functional items instead of the ding-bang. I save money instead and aim at buying stuff for both in that same money that I used to spend on one item earlier.
This post was originally published on Indian Moms Community.