Skip to main content

2nd Child Syndrome


I have always been told that attitudes change and parenting styles change when you have your second child. I have never considered myself to be an uptight parent. When I had Diva I thought I was pretty laid back. Looking back now that impression is wrong.
Looking at my current situation I realize that what I was told about the "second child" really is true. Some examples:
When Diva was a baby if she had drool, spit up, dirt of any kind on her clothes I changed her.
Now...Shrek and Donkey have to be looking pretty bad to get their clothes changed. Or have poo on them. My first thought is I don't want the extra laundry. Good enough and not pristine is okay with me. 
When Diva was a baby her eating times were very scheduled and I was very particular about what I would let her eat. I followed all the guidelines about when she could have milk, nuts, honey, etc.
Now...I'm pretty sure the Dudes had peanut butter somewhere around 8 months. I take the "if they can gum it they can eat it" approach. 
When Diva was a baby I only let her eat puffs or plain Cheerios. And she always had to eat in her  highchair.
Now...the Dudes had a cereal mix of Fruit Loops and Peanut Butter cereal in their snack cups this afternoon. I figure if it makes them happy and makes the crying stop. I'm game. And, snack cups are great. If they want to sit in the floor and eat their snack go for it. The dogs will clean up the big pieces. 
Also~ Diva was nearly 2 before I ever let her have juice.
Shrek and Donkey had juice before their first birthday. It's not a regular thing, but they do get juice. 
When Diva was a baby I was militant about changing her diaper. And I always used wipes and and wiped her thoroughly. I clearly remember one time my MIL changed Diva's wet diaper and did not use a wipe. I was horrified.
Now...If it's just wet I don't use a wipe about half the time. And, I have been known to let them wear the same diaper, knowing it was wet, for a while before I change it. Don't judge me. It's a lot of work to change their diaper. 
If I sat here long enough and thought about it I could probably come up with an impressive list. One thing this shows me though is that I can relax a little and my kids are still going to be happy and thriving children. There have been no ill effects from letting them eat Fruit Loops or not always using a wipe when I change their diaper.

Comments

  1. haha! this totally made me laugh, and I can already identify, even though our 2nd isn't here yet. :) Such a cute picture!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! Sometimes all you can do is laugh :) I've really let a lot of things slide with the babies.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hurt So Good

Ever done something that hurts, is hard, and you want to quit, but when you are done it feels so good??? That's how this week has gone for me. This week on my fitness tour brought me to Revved Fitness.   And it hurt so good. Revved is almost identical to Orangetheory. They do a combination of cardio and strength. You wear a heart rate monitor and the goal is to to elevate your heart rate and work in certain zones. The only difference I noticed is that Revved uses stationary bikes for cardio and Orangetheory uses treadmills. Revved offers a 7 day trial for $10. I signed up online and went to my first class Monday morning. Monday morning came and was stormy, early, and a line was almost out the door when I arrived. Yikes! I signed in and wandered into the room. It was a BIG class. All the bikes were full, and there were people on rowers and the strength area. The trainer split us in half. Half the class started with strength the other half started with cardio. I got in the stre

Nana Karen's Red Sauce and Meatballs~ Oh My!

When I am in the mood for comfort food my mind immediately goes to Spaghetti and Meatballs. It has been my favorite for as long as I can remember. My version of the dish consists of jarred sauce and ground beef or frozen meatballs because I didn't know how to make meatballs. Enter Nana Karen. When I was pregnant with Shrek and Donkey there wasn't much I could do the further along I got. Nana Karen would come over about once a week and make dinner and help me with whatever. She was a God send. It was an enormous help. One of the things she would make was Spaghetti and Meatballs. Wow! She made homemade sauce and from scratch meatballs. Every time I eat this dish I am in heaven. Nana Karen is an old school cook. She doesn't measure anything and makes everything from memory. A few weeks ago she found a pasta maker that her and I have been playing with and making homemade pasta. If you have never had homemade pasta it is divine!  She came over today to make some pasta. While s

Potty Mouth

You would think I would be referring to myself or Mr. Mayer. But, no. I'm talking about the precocious little girl that lives in this house. "I cleaned my room damn good." Wait. What? That was the sentence Diva told me a few weeks ago when I asked her if she had cleaned her room. I was in shock. Mr. Mayer was stifling a laugh. Diva was dead serious. A few days after that she came downstairs and told me to "Tell those damn boys to leave my damn toys alone." Apparently her brother's were messing with her Barbies. We have also had the occasional "damn it" when she drops something or spills something. It was super embarrassing when we were at Target and she dropped a toy in the toy department and said "damn it." Thankfully there was no one around to hear her. Diva's um...creative (?) vocabulary started as soon as she started speaking. She has always used big words, whether she knew what they meant or not. Mr. Mayer and I are totally