Parenting Tip Swap

I want to thank so many of my wonderful friends who sent me encouraging emails and left comments after my post on surviving two under two. There are people out there (other than my wonderful parents) reading this blog! YAY! I have decided to keep it up even though my posts at times will be few and far between once I return to work. I really enjoy this blog! I started it right before we had James and wow, things have changed a lot in such a short span of time. I use this blog as a place to post updates on our family, especially updates about our two little men, but now I also look forward to using it as a place for me to communicate with other parents out there who are enjoying the same joys (and facing the same challenges) of parenthood that we are. I'm really excited about that!

After my last post I received the sweetest and my most thoughtful email from my friend Ginger in Alabama. She is the proud mommy of two handsome boys 15 months apart and she AMAZES me with how together she is! I am so impressed. She really makes it all look easy. Because of her husband's work schedule, Ginger often has to take on the day to day responsibilities of caring for her boys. She is my hero because I have been in those shoes with one child and I cannot imagine doing it with two children. However, as moms we do what we have to do and Ginger rises to the occasion! Her boys will be really proud of her one day when they are old enough to know about the sacrifices she made for them.

Ginger's email to me was uplifting and inspirational. It was a reminder that moms need to reach out to each other and lean on each other for support. Of course there are a million people around to share your joy and excitement with, but sometimes moms need other moms. You might feel as if you are alone in how you are feeling but the fact is other moms have been where you are. It is ok to feel unsure about things (to return to work? to breast feed or supplement? which daycare? allow TV for toddlers? organic or not?) or to ask for help when you need it. It is ok to admit things are not perfect and that you need support from others during the hard parts. Motherhood is the BEST and MOST IMPORTANT job I will ever have, but it is also the HARDEST job that I will ever have. There are no do overs. I am charged with doing the absolute best job that I can do. So to help me in that goal, I will use this blog to reach out to other parents so we can help each other when we need it.

It is true there is a Mom's Club. Anyone who is a mom knows what I mean. It is the club you join, ready or not, as soon as your first baby is born. The membership is rewarding and overwhelming, exciting and intimidating, exhilirating and exhausting. Moms wear the club badge with honor but you often can't see it because it is covered with spit up or ketchup from a toddler's messy hands! The secret about this club is that few of the moms in it feel they are doing a good job. The miracle about this club is that almost all of them are! Ginger is doing a wonderful job mothering her little guys and she made me feel that I am doing a great job taking care of my two boys. So thank you again Ginger!

Whether you have one child or ten children, we are all in this together. These little babies and toddlers and kiddos (and AHHH, the horrors....TEENAGERS!) are pretty hard work and juggling everything they need along with taking care of the home and working outside the home can feel pretty daunting. We have all come up with ideas or little tricks that make life easier for us. Maybe you have a strategy that makes getting out the of the house on time easier or maybe you've got a plan in place for making grocery shopping with kids a breeze. So, here is what I propose. Comment on this post with the best tip or trick you have so that other parents can try it out and see how it works for them. I got this idea from that fabulous mom Ginger I was telling you about. In her email to me she clearly laid out how I can easily bathe James and Brendan at the same time. If you are thinking, whoop de doo, bathing two kids at once, how hard can that be??? then I KNOW you have not tried this feat. I am going to post those instructions here as well as my own idea for how to get out of the house a little easier with one kid or two, which is an idea I came up with myself.

Please leave your ideas! They can REALLY help another mom or dad out there! I am excited about learning some new things that can make things run smoother.

-By Ginger, Mom to Joseph (23 months) and John (7 months)-
To bathe two kids by yourself:
Gather all supplies before starting. Bring into the bathroom your Bumbo or Bouncy seat, two hooded towels, the baby's pajamas, baby's diaper and any diaper cream the baby may need (you could bring lotion but I find I don't have time for that anymore). With both kids in the bathroom - and the door shut so no one can escape - put the baby fully clothed in the Bumbo. Undress James while the water if filling the tub. Put James in the tub and completely bathe him head to toe. Put some toys in the water to keep James busy. Then lay out a towel on your bathmat or put one towel on top of the other to make a soft pallet on the floor. Also lay out the baby's pajamas. Undress the baby and put him in a tub seat (we used our Bumbo even though you're not supposed to). Completely bathe the baby head to toe. Take the baby out and dry him off on the towel you had laid on the floor. Put on his diaper, cream and pajamas. Dry off the Bumbo if it's wet and put him back in it. Take James out of the tub and dry him off. He can walk to his room with the towel on while you carry the baby - Bumbo and all - to James's room. Baby can sit on the floor while you get James dressed for bed.
Then go sit on the sofa for a minute with both kids because you will be tired and sweating.

-By Lauren, Mom to James (21 months) and Brendan (6 weeks)-
To get out the door easier:
Because lugging a car seat (with a 12 lb baby in it), a diaper bag and trying to convince a toddler to follow you can be hard, I now leave my diaper bag in my car when I get home with the boys. I rarely bring it in the house. Instead, we we're ready to leave, I grab a plastic shopping bag and load it up with the sippy cup, snack, extra diapers (if needed) and take that to the car instead. It is so much lighter and easier to carry. Once I am in the car I put the stuff in the diaper bag and then use the plastic bag as a trash bag in my car to collect drink cups, stray goldfish, etc. The next time I get out the car I throw the trash bag away. James even helps carry the bag a lot. (I try to use reusable shopping bags at the store, but I don't at every store every time. This makes me feel that the plastic bag is at least getting reused.)

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