I’ll admit it- I have the Two Kid Panics.
And yes- absolutely- I had the One Kid Panic as well. (But that was silly and baseless. I understand that, now.)
Just yesterday morning, as I strapped Nora into her car seat and we set off on the first of the day’s many errands, I realized just how portable she is. How agreeable. How easy. And now, with Kiddo # 2 a mere four weeks away…how am I ever going to get anything done ever again? (Okay, fine. When I was nine months pregnant with Nora, I used up every gift card I had ever received, believing my ability to travel to be a dwindling skill. Clearly I was incorrect.)
But what about my attention span? As I snuggled with Nora while singing songs and folding socks, it hit me that this time- my precious time with this sweet kid- was forever going to be halved. And I can just forget about the socks. (Sure, having my first child actually made me more productive at home…but that’s just a fluke, right? I’ve also spent many afternoons convincing the families for whom I nannied that their second kid would increase their amount of love. But I was making that up, as I obviously have no idea what I’m talking about. Sure, it worked out for them…but that’s them.)
And sayonara, sleep. Two kids? A writing career? A household? Forget it. Welcome, undereye circles. Cranky conversations with my husband. No idea what anyone is talking about in popular culture ever again. (Although, to be fair, I was superbly concerned about the whole “sleep” thing prior to October ’09 as well. It is, after all, a huge factor in many couples’ lists of baby-having pros and cons. But once I met my daughter, I had only one question for myself…what the heck is so great about sleep, anyway?)
Crazytown Me believes that nothing will ever be the same again; for our family, our financial situation, the personal habits we’re so used to…and it fills me with the need to nest and shove furniture around and make entirely too much gazpacho. (Because who knows when I will next have the time!) Rational Me also acknowledges that things will change. But- and this is a pretty big leap of faith- it should work out decently well. After all, we were (and are!) ecstatic about adding to our little family. Plus, things have been pretty nice with the addition of Nora.
And as this train shows no signs of slowing, I’ll just have to embrace the imminent topsy-turviness…and hopefully keep the neuroses to a minimum.
But not the gazpacho.
Image: Keely Flynn
