This Too Shall Pass

this too

“This too shall pass”

At least that’s what the pediatrician said to me Tuesday afternoon as I stood in his office for the third time this week.

Yeah, we’re overachievers up in here.  We doubled down on visits to the pediatrician on Monday, went back on Tuesday, and then threw in a visit to another doctor on Wednesday.  You know, just to make sure G was good and traumatized by the middle of the week.

There are hard weeks in this parenting gig, and then there are weeks like this one.  Weeks when J and I are summoning everyone – EV-ER-Y-ONE – in our village because we are both tapped out at work and G has been sick. Weeks when there just isn’t enough coffee to overcome the sleep deprivation happening.

“If it makes you feel better, this is normal.”

These were the words from the pediatrician at that third visit when he saw tears stinging my eyes, threatening to spill over.  Do you have days where you wish you could snap your fingers and your little one would be his or her happy little self again?  That was me on Tuesday.

Can we go back to Sunday? Sunday was a good day.  We played outside and sang and danced…let’s go back to that. 

I should mention:  We’re fine.  G’s fine.  We’ll all be okay. Really small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. The smallest of the potatoes.  Russet potatoes?

I should stop trying to wax poetic about potatoes. I’m not going to be able to find a meaningful allegory here.  I went to work with makeup on half my face today, let’s keep that bar low. 

This week has taught me that there are just a handful of things I know for sure about parenting:

1. I really know nothing and I must take each day as it comes. They must have lost my address when they sent out crystal balls. If you have a spare do feel free to contact me and I would gladly take it off your hands.

2. There’s nothing I won’t do for my daughter.  She changed me and made me a momma – I owe her this.  Sleepless nights and working from home late into the evening and waking up long before the sun – I would do anything for that silly girl. 

3. This too shall pass. The nursing around the clock passed, the sleepless nights passed, the separation anxiety passed…and this will pass, too.

And until it does, I’ll just lean on my people, and love on my girl.

Really, is there anything I could be doing that is better than that?

 

P.S. – Thanks for all of the funny comments and anecdotes on this post.  I totally should have added nursing gymnastics to my list!

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5 Reasons I Deserve a Medal for Nursing My Toddler

toddler nursing

Breastfeeding. It’s all sweet and dear and precious in the beginning.

Or it’s terrible and your nipples bleed and the baby won’t latch and the engorgement makes you feel like a porn star.

Whichever.

Regardless, when you’re putting that sweet new baby to your breast, the last thing you’re thinking about is what this experience will be like in exactly one year.

It’s a whole new ballgame, this extended breastfeeding. Nursing at 3 months and nursing at 15 months has about the same number of similarities as Kim Kardashian and Betty White.

If you are nursing a child over the age of 1, you need to just say goodbye to whatever pride you have left. It’s gone. That ship has sailed. Buh-bye, pride!

So as I bid adieu to my pride, I would like to at least have a prize for my efforts.

5 reasons why nursing moms of toddlers deserve a medal:

  1. My boobs are bongos. Oh yes – bongos. While my daughter nurses she will now bang on my boob with gusto. This is often egged on by my husband yelling “slap the bag!” a la getting every last drop from a box of wine. The first time he shouted that at me was the exact moment that I knew that the sweet, tender days of nursing were slipping away and I was now on an adventure course of breastfeeding survival.
  2. My nipples have stretched to unbelievable lengths. That’s right – I’m going there. Nipples. There are days that I basically feel like silly putty. My daughter will nurse and then instead of unlatching and going into that glorious milk drunk state she did as a newborn she now streeeetches that nipple way, way out. Just for funsies. Ouch.
  3. I am still a walking buffet. The danger here is that now my little customer is a walking eater. Last year my greatest worry was springing a leak at work, now my greatest worry is my child walking up to me in a public place and yanking down my shirt to help herself to a little snack (I have no idea which is worse). Or, if she can’t pull down my shirt, just attacking me with an open mouth. Like she’s bobbing for apples on my chest. This has happened too many times to count. It was especially precious during Easter Sunday church services.
  4. Nursing in public is an Olympic sport. This is no longer a modest experience. Nursing covers are not tolerated. I’m now trying to hold a 21 lb person in place. A 21 pound person who very easily could become distracted by a bird or some sort of shiny object walking by and unlatch with no notice, leaving me exposed to the world – and leaving her impatient that I have to cover myself before we can go check out whatever it is that has caught her eye.
  5. Hormones be cray – Um, postpartum hormones are not a delight, I think we can all agree upon that. Also not a delight? The additional hormone shift that comes when your child has almost weaned. My body is in a state of flux and is so confused. Am I feeding another human today? I don’t know! It’s a mystery and my pituitary gland is confused and exhausted. It deserves a prize.

Still don’t think nursing moms of toddlers need a prize? Behold: a selfie.  Moments before she was trying to pluck this eye right out of my head,.  She eventually switched to just whacking me in the face with her open hand.

It was all very tender and precious.

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This is How We Do It

To all my neighbors you got much flavor…

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While this post doesn’t technically have anything to do with the Montell Jordan song from the 90s, I totally have it stuck in my head and SORRY NOT SORRY I’m going to try to bring you down with me.

Lori reached out to me last week asking if I’d participate in a new link-up that she and Ashley are launching today, and I’m happy to be linking there today!  Two years ago I would have never thought I could write a post about grocery shopping. But oh man, now there is a lot of strategery involved so I’m happy to share & excited to pick up new tips & tricks!

So tip up your cup and throw your hands up

I’ve shared before about my dinner bin system, which is what makes my weeknight cooking incredibly easy – and I like to keep my grocery shopping exactly as easy.

First let me say: I have tried to get on the “Meal Plan Monday” bandwagon. It seems like there are a zillion bloggers out there who do this. And much love to them, so glad that works. I love a good alliteration as much as (probably more than) the next gal, but that is an epic fail here because I have to do my grocery shopping on the weekends – so I meal plan on Fridays.

And I do it with pretty much one app – Favado.

I’ll never come wack on an old school track

Look, I will never be on Extreme Couponers getting 79 boxes of kitty litter for 32 cents.  Mainly because I don’t have a cat.  But also because who has the time for that nonsense?

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See all of those little categories?  The app tells you what is on sale at your favorite stores in each category, and then it matches those sales with any available coupons – that you can then print online.  It’s dummy proof. It’s genius. I lurve it.

All hands are in the air, and wave them from here to there

The shopping itself is pretty easy – I try to go solo because hello, that’s a momcation, but that wasn’t in the cards this weekend so G came along.

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G was transfixed by these balloons.  She said “ba ba ba ba ba” basically the entire time we were there.

A few other quick tips:

Let’s flip the track bring the old school back

  1. Know your path – If you’re shopping with little ones, you’re on borrowed time.  Know your route around the store!
  2. Keep little hands busy – I let G hold something that I’m buying as long as it isn’t easily breakable/squishable.  She held a sweet potato most of this trip and was happy as a clam.  This also keeps her from turning around too much to check out what’s in the cart (except for when balloons are involved, obvi)
  3. Park next to the cart corral – I learned this the hard way.  I put G in the car first, and then load the groceries.  The first time I did this I realized I was basically stranded.  I either had to get my snoozing baby out of the car & go push the cart to the corral or be the person I hate and leave the cart in the parking lot.   I chose secret option C which was to flag down a stranger and make him push the cart back for me.  He was so pleased.

What do you do to make grocery shopping easier for yourself?  Any apps that I need to be made aware of?

 

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