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Old November 14th, 2005, 02:23 PM
pags pags is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Gulf Coast of Mississippi
Posts: 568
Well, I have kids and animals all over the place down here... What happens is quite simply - you become very very very efficient. How? It just happens because you have no choice. *chuckle*

My equipment of choice: a baby monitor (& lots of batteries), a baby sling, and a good stroller with off-road type tires. I wake up early. EARLY. Like before dawn - because I have no choice - that's when Emily wakes up for a morning bottle. Morning bottle given - she goes back to sleep for another two or three hours. It's Judge's turn for a morning walk then.. So I grab the baby monitor and take him for a spin while everyone is still asleep. By the time I get back it's time to feed the kitties and get the boys ready for school. Walk back in from waving goodbye and Yvonne is awake and ready to go... So I keep her entertained by letting her 'help' with the laundry, making the beds, and feeding Judge. By her nap time - Emily is wide awake again so after her mid-morning bottle I strap her in the baby sling and she and I take a really short stroll with Judge and the baby monitor. And then I get Emily back in bed in time for Yvonne to wake up.. and so it goes for the rest of the day....

My own hints and tips would be these (give or take a few):

1. Stick to a schedule. Everyone gets cranky when there is no schedule.
2. Invent new ways to walk the dog -- sometimes back and forth a few hundred times in front of the house is the only thing you can manage in a given day -- but it's better than nothing and it's still part of the schedule!
3. Mix and match. Part of Judge's play time each day involves running up and down the stairs with me when I gather up laundry. Part of Yvonne's playtime is feeding Judge. Part of Emily's playtime is watching the kittens play and part of the kittens' play is pouncing on Judge as he runs up and down the stairs.
4. Trust your instincts. Don't forget that with motherhood comes an enhanced sense of hearing and smell -- not to mention a brand new tingly 'mother sense' which tends to go off when something is amiss (don't ignore it! it's real)... Not to mention a super-enhanced mothers-only multi-tasking skill that comes out of nowhere....

I remember being scared to death at the prospect of taking care of a baby but I find that once you overcome the desire to eat your young -- motherhood itself irons out all the kinks.
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