As most of you know, I will be away from blogland a bit while I’m on maternity leave. Lucky for me – AND you!- I’ve partnered with some lovely bloggers to consistently bring you great content. 

This week, I am sharing a post by Joceline from A Raad Story. She offers some great tips for transitioning to becoming a mom of two.

 Enjoy!

1. Maintain your firstborn’s same routine.  My firstborn son is a toddler.  We’ve had him on a routine since he was a newborn.  When he is out of his routine, for example, when he does not take his afternoon nap when he is supposed to, he becomes fussy.  We wanted to make sure that upon returning home from the hospital, he would be on his routine no matter what!  Because your newborn baby will be sleeping most of the time, you will notice that it is easy to keep your firstborn’s routine.  We have been able to continue with Caleb’s routine primarily because newborn babies sleep a lot during the day.
2. Make him or her feel extra special.  My sister who is now a mom of 3, gave me this advice and we have applied it with Caleb.  When he does something new, we celebrate it by saying phrases like, “Wow, Caleb, good job!” or “Yay Caleb!” And clap our hands.  It makes him feel special.  If your child is older, you can say words of affirmation and also spend quality time with them.  Another way to make your older child feel special is by including him or her in activities that involve your newborn, such as, during diaper changes, they can pass you a diaper, etc. and these small tasks will make them happy to help out.
3. Encourage and allow them to get acquainted naturally.  Do not force your older child to hug or hold the baby if they do not want to.  Simply introduce them and any time you are with your newborn, welcome your older child to come, see, and touch the baby.  If you have a toddler, they will obviously not fully understand that newborns must be handled with care, so be extra careful when they reach out to touch the baby.  Unknowingly, they may tap or reach out roughly, so always keep an eye out whenever they are together.  My son has naturally transitioned into a protective older brother and is always on the look out when he hears his sister cry.  He runs to me and tries to tell me – it’s the cutest thing!

• At the hospital, I placed my newborn in her bed when I knew my son was coming for the first time to meet his baby sister.  When he came in, my attention was on him and I happily greeted him.  Then we introduced him to the baby, however because my son is still too young, he didn’t comprehend completely what was going on and he kept on running and playing.  If you have an older child, you can try what my sister did with her kids.  She greeted them with a small gift and told them the baby “brought them gifts”. These are little details that can make all the difference.
• Don’t take it personal if he only wants daddy.  My son only wanted to be with his dad during the first two days of having his sister around.  This behavior is natural.  But he or she will slowly draw closer to you again as the days go by.
• I knew I wouldn’t be able to carry my son a month after childbirth and the thought of this made me feel blue days before.  I wanted to hold my 15 month old son a little longer and carry him all the time.  I even rocked him to sleep the night before going to the hospital and embraced that moment with all my heart.  I strongly encourage you to pick up, carry, and hold your firstborn child a little longer!  Because you will definitely miss this for a couple of weeks.

As most of you know, I will be away from blogland a bit while I’m on maternity leave. Lucky for me – AND you!- I’ve partnered with some lovely bloggers to consistently bring you great content. 

This week, I am sharing a post by Alexandra from These Mama Moments. She offers touching behind-the-scenes motherhood confessions. 

 Enjoy!

I Confess by Alexandra of These Mama Moments

I confess that I am not always the best or perfect mother. In fact, sometimes parenting doesn’t feel like a privilege. Sometimes it feels like a chore.

I confess that sometimes I lose my temper. Sometimes I yell and say things I don’t mean.

I confess that I’m winging it. There are no rulebooks and I wonder often if I’m doing something the right way. Often I worry about messing you up.

I confess that sometimes I get annoyed. Sometimes I just want some quiet, and that doesn’t come easy with a toddler and a baby. I confess that I am so selfish, and it’s a daily effort and concentration to put my needs aside so I can best meet yours.

I confess that I love me some baby free time. Whenever I get the chance to be alone with your dad, or heck, just alone, I eat it up and I savor it.

I confess that when I’m told you’re like me, I get worried because I want you to be better than me and be better than I was as a kid. When you don’t eat the food that I spent 20 minutes making, and the other food I spent 10 minutes making- when you just give it a glance and say, “all done”, my blood boils a little bit.

I confess that sometimes I do not know how to parent you. When you say you have to pee for the 20th time in a night and I KNOW you don’t, but you scream and throw a fit, I look at your dad in exasperation and just say, “what do we do with him?!”

I confess that I get touched.out. By the time your dad comes home from work, I’m tired of my hair being pulled and my leg being yanked and my arm being twisted (literally). I just want 5 minutes without being treated like a jungle gym.

But I also confess that I love you more than you will ever comprehend (at least until you have kids of your own). Sometimes I look at you both and just wonder how I got so blessed as to call you mine.

I confess that a lot of times when you should be in trouble, I can’t stop laughing. When you do something you shouldn’t but then flash me your smile- I melt. Always, I melt.

I confess that when you go to sleep at night, I spend an hour scrolling through old photos. Showing your dad I say, “can you even believer they were that small?!”

After a night without you, I confess I miss you so much. I always sneak in to look at you, at risk of you waking up. I confess that I text your babysitter multiple times making sure you’re ok.

Nothing in the world can melt me like the huge smile you get when you see me. I confess that when you see a stranger and you grab my leg to hide behind- nothing in this world beats that feeling.

I confess that knowing you inside and out is so much fun. Knowing that I can calm you down and make you feel better makes me feel so good.

I confess that I always try my best, even when I don’t feel like it. Sometimes my best isn’t THE best. I confess that your grace and forgiveness is worth more than you will ever know.

You both are my proudest achievement, my most beautiful creations. You are miracles from the Lord, and I promise you that not a day passes without me thanking Him so much for you.

I will fail you both so much over the course of your lifetimes. There will be so many apologies. I hope you know my heart, always, is seeking what’s best for you. Every failure I make is an effort to find that. I confess I’m probably not the best mom in the world, but I believe that I am the best mom FOR YOU.