We didn’t do much yesterday — the big kids each had basketball practice, but that was about it. I feel like I spent at least 75% of the day cleaning up the house (post-meals, post-toy explosions, etc). The other 25% was taking things away from G (markers, tiiiiiny lego pieces that she sometimes decides to taste, etc).
But I did listen to some good music while doing it (see yesterday’s post!). I don’t know. Maybe there is some way of setting up our home to be more toddler-proof? But with 2 older kids, it’s hard. There are markers, giant bags of rainbow loom material, and tiny legos — all of which would be missed if I were to make them disappear.
Today promises to be somewhat hectic. No babysitter (bad decision), 2 simultaneous basketball games, piano lessons, Josh on call. I know — we signed up for all of this. And it’s probably too much.
But the kids are both really loving basketball, and I think piano lessons are so great at their ages (and they like them, though not as much as basketball). We will make it through the day. Maybe G will be tired enough to just snuggle on me and fall asleep during the game . . . that would be amazing.
I actually do think that once G no longer has to be actively supervised 24/7 life will be so much easier & better & more relaxed. I know, I have other stressors coming my way (puberty! more school pressure for the big kids! bigger kids bigger problems! etc etc!) but I am just . . . looking forward to not having to worry about her choking on rainbow loom pieces or plugging things into the outlet every single second. Am I supposed to be counting down this phase of my life? Probably not, but here we are.
Photo credit: C (I deleted about 40 outtakes)
(Side note/example: we were all busy getting the kids ready for school the other day when she took it upon herself to find a hairdryer that was buried in a shopping bag in the linen closet, take it into the next room, take OFF the outlet cover, and plug in the hairdryer. I found her proudly standing next to it, saying “WOW!”. Thankfully no electric shocks seem to have happened. But OMG. And the whole episode probably took place in the span of 2 minutes.)
Okay. Time to sneak my workout in before everyone is up. PLEASE G MAKE IT TO 6:30!!
ADDENDUM: G still asleep and I just survived 21DF Extreme Plyo (the first workout). IT WAS HARD.
10 Comments
I hear you so stinking much on how hard it is to child proof when you have older kids. Not only do things not *Stay* put away for more than 30 seconds it is like threading a needle to find solutions that allow the 4.5 the independence she needs but keep the toddler reasonably safe. My 1.5 year old is in love with the toilet- like obsessed with it. Probably because he’s the only one not allowed to use it and also because he seems to think it’s a water table. But all the child locks etc are too hard for my older one to undo especially if she’s in a hurry. Now that the toddler can open doors I live in fear of him drowning in the toilet which I have heard is more common than people realize.
I love hearing about your music recommendations! Just curious – how do you find out about new things? I used to be really into music when I was younger and I just don’t take the time to listen to stuff as much anymore, but I love listening to music when I do! It helps that I have a wonderful friend that is always buying concert tickets and invites me to shows in the area 🙂
Enjoy your weekend!!
My sources are Sirius XM channel
35 (XMU) and the All Songs considered podcasts 🙂
Thank you! I’ll check them out! 🙂
I often forget about the less fun aspects of having a toddler, but yeah I’m right there with you in retrospect. Here at chez omdg I am eagerly awaiting the time when we will no longer need a babysitter. But that makes me sad Bc that will mean Dyl is all grown up and I will be old! So. 🙁
I hear you completely. My fifteen month old is so adorable, funny, and curious, and such an exhausting handful. Yesterday I discovered him standing on the arm of the couch and then sitting in the middle of the dining room table. I love how little and snuggly he is (and a good sleeper most of the time, thankfully), but my husband and I are both totally depleted at the end of the day from trying to manage him and our emotional five year old. This too shall pass…right?
It will!!!!
Ah I feel you 1000%. Was it like this when A and C were toddlers too or not as apparent since you didn’t have older kids?
I swear, they literally find the worst possible thing to do during unsupervised moments. I think it is just to make us look like jerks when we have to explain to our spouse/friend/god forbid ER (“so in the two minutes I was gone, he jumped off the couch and hit his head on the coffee table..”) you want to add ten million disclaimers so people are clear it’s the kid not you! Lol!!! (Speaking from experience- my two year old launched himself out of the stroller headfirst onto the pool deck at age 1 and hasn’t stopped finding opportunities for self harm since…) gotta laugh about it! 🙂
👊🏻 It is SO hard. My 2 year old managed to fall off a (<2’ tall) chair onto our carpeted living room floor last week and broke her collarbone in the 90 seconds our nanny was in the bathroom. She had been happily reading so she thought it would be ok to leave her. I would’ve too. She is so much more active than I ever was. It’s exhausting!