Right after I had my now 18-month old son, Simon, I wrote a post about all the things I had learned from being a mom to two children. I wrote it TWO WEEKS after I had Simon. He couldn’t even smile yet. Of course it was easy. All I had to do was feed him and change his diapers.

Below is the link to the said post. It was picked up by Motherly and they still use it on a regular basis.

https://www.mother.ly/life/two-weeks-with-two-kids-8-things-ive-learned-about-having-a-second-child

Now that I have two mobile children, I thought I should write a little follow up. So the world can know how I am currently handling my mom life. So fasten your seatbelts and lower your expectations, because I have sure as hell have lowered mine!

What I HAVE done is learned a lot about myself, my kids and my new life in the last eighteen months.

• Having two kids is by no means easy. My four-year old is in his poop phase. Everything ends with the word poop or butt face. He is constantly bouncing off the walls. He flips and jumps and twirls and yells inappropriate words in public. My 18-month old has turned into a tiny round wrecking ball. He imitates everything his brother does. He constantly screams at the top of his lungs for no reason, then claps his hands and giggles. If it is in one piece, he will destroy it in a matter of seconds.
• Multitasking is no longer my jam. If we have somewhere to be at 8 am, I am up at 4:30 am to start the process. Seriously. That’s if I want to show up to work looking like a professional. If I want to go to work looking like a “hot mess mom” that just made my kid duck and roll out of the car in the preschool line so he would be on time, I am up at 6 am.
• My four year took approximately 9 months to get used to his brother. For the first nine months of his life, poor Simon was not a part of the family, according to Henry, my oldest. If Simon was on the floor, Henry would literally just step over him. Now he thinks his little brother is actually pretty cool. He has a partner in crime which is equally as terrifying. I didn’t know boys started wrestling at such a young age. But they do. And it gets wild. So this mom just leaves the room. What I don’t see won’t hurt me.

• Exhaustion is real. For real, for real. I can get a full night’s sleep and still be tired. KIDS. NEVER. STOP. I can’t pull their batteries out like I did to Tickle Me Elmo. I just have to push through and repeat in my fried brain that I will miss this one day.
• The boys have too much screen time. Judge me all you want. But Mommy has a full-time job and a side hustle and laundry that has to be done and sweet baby Jesus will it ever be warm again so they can go outside? If I turn on a screen, I can keep them occupied for a good 20 minutes so I can pee in silence or even just brush my teeth without someone literally sitting on my foot with their arms wrapped around my leg.
• I have lowered my standards – big time. I will literally go out in public looking like I was hit by a bus. No makeup, top knot flopping on the side of my head, in yesterday’s pajamas. To the point where people I know will see me and do a double take because they didn’t recognize me. The boys will be in their footed PJs with rain boots and a stuffed animal that looks like it came from a trash can. I never imagined in my past life I would be so low maintenance.
• I need to give my post-baby body a little grace. After I had Henry, I started working out and shed that baby weight like a before and after picture from a Beachbody infomercial. Not so much this time. I’m still carrying about 15 extra pounds around. I’m not unhealthy, but I love a good cheeseburger. A taco can legitimately make my day. I created life damnit, and that’s hard work. I have the C-section scars to prove it.
• I have so much love in my heart. So cliché. I am such a mom now. I lick my thumb and wipe snot off my kid’s faces. But gosh, seeing their tiny little smiles lights me up. Nothing makes me happier than hearing a sweet little voice tell me they love me. Boys love their mommies and I am so grateful that I have two stinky little rugrats in my life. They make me laugh every. single. day. And you better believe I will straight up get Henry to tell me who laughed at his new haircut so I can mean mug their parent during four-year old preschool graduation. Disclaimer: I am not into violence but don’t make fun of my kid. Even though the haircut was pretty tragic.

Life with two little boys is not easy, but I love it and it is my new life. It’s a challenge each and every single day, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

But use the word fundraiser around me and I will straight up just write you a check. Please don’t make me sell that crap.

Until Next Time,

Jamie