How did we do it?
Thu, 2009-03-26 13:23
#1
How did we do it?
We are looking after our grandson for 8 days whilst his parents have a well deserved rest - but caring for a VERY active little boy of 22 months is absolutely exhausting. We're now half way through day 7 and we're dead on our feet. He's not even into the horrors of the 'terrible twos' - although he does have a strong will of his own! He's gorgeous, loving and funny but it makes me wonder how on earth we managed to have three children and even more how older parents manage it. I sure couldn't do it for much longer than the 8 days! But we'll miss him when he goes....
styx
And all that with no sleep for 3 years. My son gawdblessim would sleep all day and stay awake all night. The little blighter wouldn't accept just holding him you had to keep moving. I remember one night walking up and down for 4 hours but I came up with a plan - it was a brilliant plan - I had a bottle of red wine (no I didn't put a teet on it) but I did soak my finger and put it in his mouth. By God he was certainly my son he almost took the nail off he was sucking so hard. After about 10 minutes he was snoring like an old drunk. Brilliant! He's now 33 and doesn't drink at all.
chuck
Likewise. My wife and I raised 2 children....I worked and she got her PhD at the same time. But the bit of babysitting I do now leaves me exhausted. Ooooh look here's mummy.
Enzo
I'm living it as I write.
Today is day 11 of baby 2's life. Baby 1 is 20 months.
I'm a bit tired.
B
camus
Wow, I have been away a LONG time!
Congrats Enzo.
Dynamaso
My mother gave birth to five children between June '63 and May '69. I still marvel at how my parents managed to keep up without going mad or running away. I know I couldn't.
styx
This is going to sound a little bit one-up manship, well a lot like it. My mother had 11 kids but 2 died, one at 6 days and one at 13 months and that's not counting the miscarriages. She's now 85.
tcook
Best of luck Enzo - he's got chickenpox now - just in time for his parents arriving home late tonight! And congratulations on number 2, you've sure got your hands full. Have you worked out what causes them yet?
Silver Spun Sand
Oh dear, Tony. So sorry to hear about the chickenpox. Hope he swiftly gets over it and that you've had it. I caught it off of my two nippers - way back in the seventies, having never succumbed to the blighter in childhood. Boy, oh boy did I suffer!! Strangely enough, their grandparents were looking after them when they came down with it, whilst me and other half were holidaying in Scotland. Thank heaven for grandparents ... although I'm glad my own grandkids are passed the 'looking after stage'. I remember taking them to Cornwall for the week, whilst their mother was away on a course. They were 2 and 3 at the time and I vowed, never again. But I did the same thing the next year. Must have been mad!! Gluttons for punishment, us grandparents.
a.jay
as an older mum of two (elfie, 8, swoony, journal writing romantic beauty and Lilla, 3, tornado of fancies and frustration, cheeky charming tyke.) I find one of my biggest difficulties is getting to a thread before everyone else has summed it up and put it to bed!!!
no school on wednesday here, so...
a.jay
ps: hearty congratulations enzo, but i do wonder, when you still had just one, did the parents of multiple offspring say things like, 'once you've made the initial parental adaptation, may as well have two'? sorry to inform you, but they just wanted you in the club! two i find, means more than twice the work!! nice to see someone else got fooled by that old chestnut. Still on the plus side it also means more than twice the love, awww :)
ax
tcook
And three .... We thought we'd done our bit, my wife was off to college, the kids were both at school - and then along came number three! It'll be all right if she's cool, we thought. She wasn't. She was stroppy, awkward, loud and bloody difficult for the first three years or so. I guess that made her into the stroppy, awkward, rugby playing delight she is today!
Still, it put us back to square one and it took my wife another 16 years to go to college!
a.jay
thanks mr cook, i will never, ever get drunk and careless again ;)
ax
TheShyAssassin
It gets worse as they get older. My two are now 17 and 16. I recently went to pick them up from a party late one night at a village hall in the deepest heart of remote rural Buckinghamshire. When I got there I had to negotiate six police cars and a dog handler. Word had got around three Aylesbury schools and about four hundred people turned up to a hall that holds about one hundred. Of course it all kicked off big time. As I drove away with a car full of kids it was like the last helicopter off the embassy roof in Saigon.