And the bad news is that shots get HARDER when they are older, and they can look right at you and scream MOMMMYYYYY!!!!!! : ) It gets easier, although it's never fun, for the mommy.
HI! I'm Nicki. I was just reading what you wrote in Jacalyn's gb.
I had a really hard time when my first baby was born. I was easily frustrated with Cullen...he didn't do things like I did, and to top it off, he thought he knew more than me because his mom has done daycare for 30 years and he helps and helped all growing up. He didn't get that sometimes i needed NO ONE to be over- he just wanted to show off our baby to the whole world. He didn't get that just because I didn't go to work while on maternity leave, that i was still PLUM TUCKERED out by the time he got home and i wanted him to take over. He was tired from "working" and wanted to rest.
What I have found to work- this is just me, but just in case it might work for you, I'll share it- is this (and now i have 4 kids 5 and under and i work from home too).
I do my thing during the day. I work. I play with kids. I feed kids. I dress and bathe kids. I work. I play. I feed kids again...well, you get it. I make dinner. I make a good dinner, to feed my children and my starving hungry husband who has been working outside throwing heavy blocks all day. Before he gets home (GOD this is going to sound so 1950's!!!), me and the kids clean up the house. They LOVE to clean up the house for Daddy. We get everything all cleaned up and dinner ready. When he comes home we all eat together. I clean up the kitchen while he goes to shower. Usually we sit together for 15 minutes or so and then he usually takes the kids out to a park or what have you, and i get ALONE TIME. It's precious and i love it and i will never again take it for granted!
Now, your baby is little, but if you need groceries or maybe YOU should leave...anyways, the secret is that i have found that if the house is picked up and he is fed, and the kids are screaming and i'm not about to pull my hair out, he's really happy to take them for awhile. He loves to spend time with them, but there are days when he's just BEAT.
Me getting some alone time- even if i do nothing but sit in front of the TV, or puter or laundry- gives me time to relax and unwind. After they get home, it's usually bedtime, and the kiddos go to bed and then it's our time to hang out.
That's the other thing...as your CUTE (SUPER CUTE, by the way) baby gets older, there will be a set bed time and it will be something you can count on and you'll know that you're going to have some time at the end of the day. But it really is important for Joe to be able to give you a little break.
When i was re-reading what i wrote, let me assure you that there are times when i'm just DONE for the day and i'm thinking "why aren't YOU cleaning up the dinner dishes? I COOKED, YOU CLEAN" or "why am i giving them a bath this morning when Cullen can do it tonight? OH, that's right, because he doesn't LIKE to. What the hell! What if i don't LIKE doing something?" ....there are definitely those times. And he's getting pretty good at knowing when i'm totally done and that if he DOESN'T get the kids out, no one will survive me. : )
First babies are the hardest. They really, truly are. NO ONE and NOTHING can prepare you for how hard it is at first, how much you can love another human being, or the changes that you are going to go through. It gets easier. You will find your groove, too. I DEFINITELY understand why most marriages end after kids come into the picture though. Marriages are HARD WORK, and after kids come in, they require ALOT of time and attention (marriages, I mean. Well, kids, too, but you know.).
Geez. Sorry. Long enough post. It's just that i remember that feeling, and although I still feel it sometimes, it's so much more manageable now because we aren't new at it anymore- at juggling EVERYTHING. Hang in there!!!!
And congratulations, again!
Nicki
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