Advanced Motherhood

I could probably write 100 different posts about what it's like being a mom of two. It's wonderful in so many ways, it's challenging in so many ways and it's just a different beast than having one.

I am lucky that Nolan is a good baby and I am lucky that Kenley is a mostly good toddler. More than anything I am lucky that Jason is an incredible dad, is super involved with our kids and is super helpful with them when he's home. We divide and conquer.

However, a couple weeks ago, Jason left town. Jason works in sales and is really good at his job and works hard at it. As with any sales job, there are incentives that come along with it. My husband may just be the most competitive person on the planet and if there is an incentive up for grabs you better believe he's gonna do everything he can to earn it. For this reason, he earns quite a bit of incentive trips. So in mid-June, he went up north for a weekend of golf. 

It was me versus two for exactly 49 hours of which the first 30 went great. I was feeling on top of the world. Sure, I was tired. Sure, I was juggling a million different things. Sure, I would have loved some help. BUT, overall we were rocking it. I was a multitasking machine, I mean wiping your toddler's butt with one hand while holding your baby with the other is what being a mom is all about, right?! I'm used to being alone with my two peanuts during the day but surviving my first solo night without any kind of break felt pretty good.

Then...the ish hit the fan. Kenley became bored of me and got whiney, Nolan got fussy and dominated my attention making Kenley even more whiney. I hadn't eaten all day and was hungry. I had also developed a hacking cough from a cold I'd been battling for weeks. And then out of nowhere Kenley barfed....barfed all over herself, me and the entire kitchen. I spent the next 30 minutes listening to Nolan scream bloody murder while I bathed Kenley, put all of our clothes and the kitchen rugs in the wash and then scrubbed the whole kitchen. After what felt like an eternity, I put Kenley to bed and consoled my poor sweet baby. Once Nolan was fed and asleep it all hit me and I just cried, cried tears of sheer exhaustion. 

I texted my best friend and her response was the most perfect thing anyone could have said to me in that moment..."you are practicing advanced motherhood." It made me laugh, but then when I thought about it, I realized I really was. This was not the standard day. It was Me vs Two longer than I had dealt with before, Nolan was only 6 weeks old and the barf fiasco was not something that happened often, or ever really. I was practicing Advanced Motherhood and surviving. As exhausted as I was after those 49 hours, I had a new sense of confidence that even though some days are more challenging than others, I can do it. I can handle being a mom to two small kiddos. 

But, you better believe that when Jason came home after his two nights away and I immediately left the house and went to the pool for 2 hours of alone time.