Dude, I can’t even think of a title

Hello my neglected blog. Yes, I am still pregnant and roasting in this rare Seattle heat. It’s supposed to cool down next week though. From the 90’s to the 60’s in a matter of days - gotta love the schizo weather.

So, obviously I am not going to have a lot of time in the next few weeks to do… well…. anything, really but I wanted to pose a question to all you parents with kids involved in preschool and activities.

First of all, if you have more than one child and the older one is ready for preschool or extracurricular activities, how do you arrange it so that you can

a) particpate in the activities with the older child as well as

b) drop them off with a crazy active toddler and soon to have newborn baby? Seriously, how to people plan these things? It’s not lIke I can just leave the two younger ones in the car while I walk my oldest into preschool, right? Can I? No? Oh FINE.

I don’t have anyone that lives close by that can stop by to give me a hand while I drop off my daughter, so while that is a fabulous suggestion, it wouldn’t work for me. Also, I don’t know my neighbors well enough to trust any of them with my children. Heh. I mean, I’m sure they are lovely people, but still.

Anyways, I’ve been seriously thinking about how I am going to handle the logistics of having three children. I’ve always said that having two was not as hard as I thought it would be. Before becoming hugely pregnant with this third, I’d throw both in the grocery cart or in a stroller to walk the mall without a second thought. Now I fear that juggling all three will be so tough that I’ll end up resorting to ordering groceries off Safeway.com (so expensive! Limp produce!) or I’ll just wait until my husband has a day off and then waste half the day running errands alone.  I’m sure the first few months will be the toughest, when the baby is small and will need to be nursed often. I guess I’ll just have to become more organized in planning our days, esp when my daughter starts preschool.

Luckily, there are a few things we plan on teaching her at home on our own. Besides the fact that we can’t afford to pay for expensive lessons, I figure my husband and I have at least a few talents we can hopefully pass on to all of our children. My husband can teach the basics of golf and volleyball (his two favorites) and I can figure out to teach them piano. I’ll have to buy a “how to teach piano” for dummys (dummy = me) but I’m sure it’ll be way easier than doling out $25/lesson, four times a month to some teenage piano prodigy. ACK. Again, how do people afford these things?!

Anyways, I guess I’m just wondering how people juggle and organize their schedule so they can enroll their children in these types of things and actually get them there on time.  I don’t want to be one of those parents who go totally overboard and bombard their children with back to back activities but I’m sure my daughter would love to get out of the house a couple times a week and have some interaction with kids her age.

Any suggestions? Stories?

If you don’t hear from me in a while, it’s probably because I’ll be a little… busy

 

Nothing to do, so I ramble

Both kids are down for their naps. I know I should nap but I don’t really feel like it. Actually, I don’t feel like doing anything. I don’t want to cook, I don’t want to clean, I don’t want to nap. I think I’ve entered that stage of pregnancy where I am just eager to get to the end. This pregnancy has been much more difficult than my previous two. I am already aching and tired. I have horrible acid indigestion. My pants are getting tighter by the day. The pants part disturbs me only because um, they are sweat pants.

I wonder about this baby. I wonder how he/she will be accepted by my two children. I already feel like I give more attention to my older girl than the boy. He’s had such the second child shaft. Luckily, he’s a relatively easy going and happy kid, so he probably doesn’t even notice. Also, I’m a middle child and I turned out fine. Heh. Sure…

We’ve been contemplating when to start preschool for E. She turns 4 this fall and I know she’s ready and could use some time outside the house with other children. I’m just not sure if I’m ready. I feel like I just got the opportunity to quit my job and spend these formative years with them. I know preschool is only 3 hours a day, twice a week but just the thought that she’d be away from me for that time makes me a little sad. Now, I’m sure I’ll feel differently when I have three kids to worry about day in and day out, but right now I like having her home with me. She’s like my little assistant - she gets the diapers when it’s time to change O, loves to help me in the kitchen and just keeps me company with her constant chatter and laughter. Also, the kids play really well together most of the time so it allows me to just sit back and relax once in a while.

However, on the flip side I do see the need to spend some quality alone time with O. Once in a while he’ll wake up from his nap earlier than his sister and so we get some quiet time to ourselves. I sit back and observe how much he enjoys just having my full atention on him rather than sharing the spotlight with his sister. I don’t think he really minds because he just adores his big sister, but it nice to have that bonding time without someone else jostling for my attention. He is definitely the less jealous of the two… so far.