Thursday, November 27, 2008

Its easier now that the kids are 4 & 6

My kids are 4 and 6 and its so much easier now. I remember when they were newborns, babies then toddlers. Life was much harder then! Especially life with a newborn AND a toddler without any help. I had to prioritise. My priorities back then were.....

  1. Babies
  2. Housework
  3. Cooking (accept for my babies)

I gave priority to my babies first. Looking after my babies always came first. They were what mattered the most. I had a very hard time breastfeeding my babies. So that took up a lot of my time. Life seemed to go by in a frenzy of feeding after feeding after feeding. Everytime I finished pumping, storing, trying to breastfeed unsuccessfully, cup feeding, sterilizing, then it was time for another feed! It was crazy but we did it in the end. We managed to breastfeed successfully after the first 2 months of frenzied feeding and went on to breastfeed for 1 1/2 years for the first and 3 years for the second baby.

Housework came second and cooking third accept cooking for my babies because I wanted them to eat fresh nutritious foods cooked by me not foods that came out of a jar. Afterall, we try to avoid canned food for its less than nutritious value. So why should our babies eat jar food? So I made them myself and that was very time consumming.

However, I had no time to cook for the adults ie my husband and myself. Each evening after work, my husband would drive to the economy rice shop near my house and tapau or pack home 3 packets of rice with dishes. 2 packets were for our dinner. I kept 1 packet in the fridge to be reheated in the microwave the next day for my lunch.

It was a pretty unhealthy way to eat, especially at a time when I was recovering from birth and was supposed to be looking after myself better but I had no choice. I couldn't cope with everything so I had to cut corners and that was one of the ways.

As for housework, I always felt that it was not very important. As long as we did a quick wipe and don't let it get too dirty for hygiene purposes, I didn't have to have a house with shiny floors and shelves. I had a motto. "A place for everything and everything in its place." I kept to that and at least we didn't have the clutter that would drive one mad.

I'm writing this because I feel overwhelmed again with so much things to be done. But before I go and rant and complain, I should look back to how much harder it was back then. Now, the kids are older and eat the same foods as we do so I don't have to cook special foods for them anymore. I even have a live in house helper now so I don't have to do much housework accept supervise and help out a bit here and there and whenever I cook, I have someone to prepare before and clean up afterwards for me. Yes, I should be thankful instead of complain about how overwhelmed I am with my todo list. :)

Now, I even have time to read a book or a magazine in between rushing. And sometimes I have time to dress up when we go out. I can even wear heels again. Haha. It was impossible to wear heels when you are carrying a baby and chasing a toddler at the same time. It was foolhardy. But now I can wear heels again, frivolous though this may sound, its just another thing or part of me that I have managed to reclaim after the babies came along and I became lost in babyworld.

And for all new moms who happen to be passing by and reading this. Remember to treasure the early days even though it may be hard. They grow up so fast and soon you will have more time to yourself again. :)

Related posts:

Life with a newborn and a toddler
Life with a 3 year old and a 5 year old

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8 comments:

  1. it's so tough for us now but we are holding on, staying united and strong togeterh. hope the bad days will soon be over.

    once their childhood is over, we cannot find it back again.

    it's priceless!

    -Ling

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha! Those hard days u mentioned will be back to me probably next yr as we're planning to hv 2nd baby! GOSH! I must treasure every second of these senang time we've just resumed until next yr i dont know which day yet! KEKEK!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ling,
    You are right. We can't turn back the clock on childhood.

    Leeyen,
    Hard though we know it would be, we still want to go for it. Hahaha. All the best to you. If I could, I probably want to go ahead with it and lose my freedom a third time but age and health does not permit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am waiting for my kids to turn 6 & 3 respectively. Then i can have a bit of my life back.

    Oh yes, i missed dressing up & heels!!

    But then again, i will miss the cuteness of my baby....*geram-nya*

    Thus am cherishing every single (busy) moments right now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. shooi,
    Yes, heels is one of the things I missed too. Haha.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hehehe while I'm waiting for No. 2 to show up, I'm enjoying some 'free' time now.

    Esp as wise Mums like you are giving us fair warning LOL

    Toddlers do grow up fast so I'm enjoying him as he is now :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. KittyCat,
    Better enjoy all that you can while you can then. Hahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm getting cold feet! Anyway, I guess everybody has to go through the process...3 years breastfeeding is simply amazing! I would be very happy if I could do it for a year...

    ReplyDelete

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