Talking to Myself

As someone who is used to having life planned out and scheduled and organized, these last few weeks have been somewhat of an adjustment.for me. I have had to learn not to be so demanding of myself.  Here a some of the things I have had to tell myself throughout the day.

My mother had told me before Addie came along that it takes about 6 months after a baby's arrival for things to settle into a sense of normal.  How true that was... and it is something I keep telling myself.  I can't expect normal to happen in the first three weeks.  It will take some time and that is okay.

It is okay to ask for help when I need it.  Mom L has stepped in to take Addie to storytime at the library for me.  Taking Ian out is still a bit of a juggling act for me, and I really don't want to expose him to all of those kids yet.  So Mom has willing taken Addie for me to Library time.  Addie loves it and enjoys lunch with Grandma afterward, and I am able to take advantage of the time I have when Ian is sleeping to do what needs to get done.

Spot cleaning is okay at this point.  I look at my house and see all of the things I would love to get to.  Instead I have learned to look at what is the most urgent, and tackle that task only when I have a moment..  It is not easy to not do more, but I am learning that it is okay.

Take things in stages.  Right now my focus with Ian is getting him on a feeding schedule.  He does not like that at all! Once his feeding schedule is established, then I can work on getting him to sleep on his own without rocking him or holding him. Having him adjust to two things at once would be too much for him and Mommy at this point.

There is always tomorrow.  There are so many things that I want to do and accomplish, but there are only so many hours in the day, and of those hours, there is only so much time left over after giving my time to the ones who matter most.  I am learning that whatever I did not finish today, I can attempt to finish tomorrow.

These are just some of the things that I tell myself throughout the day as I am learning to be a mommy of two.  One day (soon, I hope) I will have my detailed schedule back, life will move according to a well organized plan, Ian will be eating and sleeping on a schedule, and I can look back on these crazy weeks and realize how short they were in the grand scheme of things.