Forget Being In A Rush To Do Anything!
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When everyone told us to enjoy doing our own things before having our baby, we didn’t take them too seriously as we were fully prepared (or so we thought!) for anything that pregnancy and a baby could throw at us. How wrong were we?! You can forget being in a rush!
The thing I have most had to adapt to once we came out of the ‘new-born’ stage was just how long it takes to actually do anything or go anywhere! For those that know me well, I’m an absolute control freak who plans and organises every last deal of everything (I drive Mario insane!!) so for me, not feeling in control or on top of things makes me quite anxious and stressed. When we had Mia I struggled for a long time with this.
Not only do you have to make sure your dressed (in clothes that go together!), baby’s dressed and you have your changing bags packed with all of the essentials, I found that even getting into the car, both strapped in and ready to actually drive off could sometimes take me 10 whole minutes! How is that possible?! At first I didn’t factor getting in and out of the car into my timings to meet people or get to appointments and even now with a toddler who is extremely stubborn and wants to get into her car seat herself (which takes an age!), I find it takes at least 10 minutes to get her in the car, bags in and myself ready to set off!
Absolutely everything takes more time to do and ultimately gets more difficult the older the child gets! Gone are the days when food shopping was a case of running in and out with the trolley in 15 minutes max, now it takes me 30 minutes to even get in the door and down aisle 1 as the girls want to sit in the trolley, get out of the trolley, want to sit in the trolley again!
Everything has to be planned, I can’t just ‘nip’ to the shop anymore as it takes far too long to get the girls in and out of the car and round the shop than to actually plan to get it another time. Any essential items we run out of have to be planned into a days’ worth of activities or Mario has to grab it for me!
Then there’s the hurdle of getting ready for the day, I find just having a shower in the mornings or putting on my make-up have to be a quick 5 minutes otherwise one of the girls come to find me to see what I’m doing, which always results in them getting all my make-up and toiletries out and spreading them out all over the floor!
It’s taken me around 2 years to feel like I’m really in a good daily routine, one where I can get everything that needs to be done, done and also sort myself and the girls out. I feel like I’m constantly working but it works for us and I can go to bed at night feeling like I have done everything I can and made the most of every single day.
Saying that, I have learnt to accept not everything gets done and jobs just have to be prioritised. If there’s any advice I would give a new mum or a mum-to-be it would be to try and relax about things that don’t need to be done right that moment. If you relax about how much time you ‘don’t’ have and try and enjoy the things you do get done, it will be a much smoother ride and let’s face it, parenting is a hard enough ride as it is. You can forget being in a rush!
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A Cornish Mum
I used to dread hearing the words ‘I do it myself’ as one of my sons always said… which meant that putting shoes on would be ten minutes or more, a coat add another five…. and so on. Now they’re ten and 12 I still marvel at the fact I don;t have to fuss with car seats and that they can get their shoes on quicker than I can mine now 😉
Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix
Stevie x
mummydaddymia
Oh I know what you mean! Mia is just learning to take her clothes on and off and it takes ages! She drives me mad as she will not accept any help from me! 🙂
Kay Brown - Cheery Little Thing
We’re still in the newborn stage and I can relate to feeling out of control/stressed with times. Thankfully we’re able to have one busy day followed by a lazy day or two where it doesn’t matter so much if I’m up, dressed & showered straight away. I can nap when he does to make up for the loss of sleep in the night!
mummydaddymia
Aww bless you! Its such a hard time but so worth it! I would do so many things slightly differently if we ever had a ‘next time’. Good Luck! 🙂
farmerswifeandmummy
Prioritising is exactly as it is, Who knew mothers would have to do risk assessment 🙂 I feel like I am constantly prioritising things. As long as the children are clean, fed and happy, I think I am ok. The house is a mess though 😉 #MaternityMondays
mummydaddymia
I know! It something they never tell you before you have children and if they did, we wouldn’t take notice anyway!! We normally aim for us all to be showered, bathed, dressed and fed and anything else it a bonus!! 🙂
Emily aka the trainee mum
This is what stresses me out the most when I consider the next few months and the arrival of our baby! #maternitymondays
mummydaddymia
Ahh its tricky but you do get used to it and quickly get into a routine! Good Luck with your new baby 🙂
A Moment with Franca
You are absolutely right!! I couldn’t agree more! The most difficult thing is to get organise and ready to get out of the house when you have little kids. If having one child was difficult when we added Sienna to the picture everything got worst!! I’m normally slow as I take a long time to get ready so imagine having to deal with other 2 kids!! It was so hard for me to adapt!! I think now I still find it hard but I have learned how to do things quicker but I need for sure a couple of hours to get all organised! I said to my husband that she should tell me that we have to be out 1 hr earlier than the actual time so then we could arrive on time every where! We haven’t started this yet but I think we will do this for now on! BTW, what a cute photo! Thanks so much for sharing this at #KCACOLS. I would love to see you again on Sunday! 🙂 x
mummydaddymia
Aww its so difficult at first, I remember not knowing what had hit me when I had Mia and had to get us both ready and out! I don’t know what I would do if we had another child too! Telling you that you have to be out an hr earlier seems like a really good idea! I need to this for my other half as he is the one who takes an age to get ready! I have it down to a fine art now! 🙂
Alice Nipper and Tyke
I have found that it is so time-consuming getting the kids in and out of the car, I am much better off just walking to wherever we need to go (as long as it’s not too far). That way you get the added bonus of them being a bit tired out and more passive when they get home (if you can handle the infinitely long time it takes to encourage and coax them to walk anywhere, that is!)
x Alice
#kcacols
mummydaddymia
Oh i agree! That’s a really good idea and I would love the exercise and ‘fresh’ air too! We don’t have many places within walking distance but I like to walk to the park and the supermarket which are about 30mins walk away 🙂
Claire at Tin Box Traveller
I think the amount of time it takes to get out the house was one of my biggest shocks too. I had no idea how easy this task was when it was just me I had to worry about! After three years I think I now have a reasonably good idea of how long it’s going to take based on where we are going, what we need to take with us and what mood the kids are in. I still find myself arriving places within a window of half an hour rather than on time! #KCACOLS
mummydaddymia
I know! I love my 3hrs a week when Mia’s at Preschool, where I can nip to Tesco and walk around at my own pace, down the only aisles I want to go down instead of all of them!! We still aren’t great at getting out on time after nearly 3yrs but we are getting there and we aren’t normally too bad! 🙂
Something Crunchy Mummy
The first few months really are hard to plan and organise. Thanks for linking up to #justanotherlinky xx
mummydaddymia
They certainly are, still not great at it! 🙂
Lianne
So true, it can be so difficult to spin all the plates sometimes can’t it? I often find it difficult to parent between my boys. 1 is almost 12 and the other just 18 months, big difference between parenting skills! #justanotherlinky
mummydaddymia
Yes you have an age-gap don’t you! Still, I bet its a struggle getting out all at the same time successfully every time! 🙂
Nicky Kentisbeer
I loved this. Makes me feel so much better as I thought that my husband and I held the award for taking forever to do everything! I look back and laugh now but we were quite mad! #KCACOLS
mummydaddymia
Oh I know! Its funny isn’t it how one small person can have such an impact on every aspect of life! 🙂
Nicole @ The Professional Mom Project
I can totally relate to this post. My son is 5 and everything still takes forever. We have come to terns with how long it takes to go anywhere and do anything. Sometimes I think you just need to embrace this stage of life and take it easy. Found your post at #KCACOLS
mummydaddymia
Yes i must say sometimes I can deal with it better than other times! Mia’s at the age where she wants to do everything herself but cant quite manage independently yet so she gets really frustrated!
Karen (@karenjwhitlock)
Mine are old enough that we can make spur of the moment decisions to leave the house and be out in a matter of minutes. My sister has just had her first and she is going through this shock of just how long it takes to do anything with a baby!!
Thanks for linking up to #SundayStars
mummydaddymia
Aww! It is certainly a shock isn’t! I don’t think it will be too long before Mia is at the stage where we can out a bit easier 🙂
Crummy Mummy
Misery Guts always says ‘I wish we’d appreciated our 20s more’ and he was right! #sundaystars
mummydaddymia
Aww, its a tricky one isn’t it! I’m glad we had Mia when we did but should have probably waited another year and enjoyed a holiday first! 🙂
Debs @ Super Busy Mum
Getting out of the house is like an excursion in itself, lol! Especially if the toddler is not in the mood for wanting to go out! haha! Thanks for linking up with the Mad mid week blog hop. #MMWBH
mummydaddymia
I know! Even now Mia’s a bit older, it still takes as long as she has recently decided she is fussy with what coat and shoes shes going to wear! 🙂
Maria
I know this feeling quite well. Even now that my daughter is 2 years old, it still takes me between 10-15 minutes to get out of the house! I agree with you about your last point as well. It took me until now (roughly 2 years after my daughter was born) to truly adjust to the chaos of it all. And you’re right in saying we have to learn how to let go and prioritize what needs to be done; leave the rest for another day. It’s a great reminder and a sanity saver for all new moms and moms to be. Thanks for sharing on #mmwbh! So glad I found your post there today.
mummydaddymia
Ahh I’m glad that its not just me!! Prioritising is one of the biggest tips I would give to any new mum, its such a stressful time but pleasing everyone and cleaning up is definitely not top priority. Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Robyn
Great post, I can relate to a lot of this having a one-year old. We’re not at the stage of him wanting to do everything for himself, but it certainly takes a lot of time to get out of the house even to go for a walk.
mummydaddymia
aww, wait until you get to the stage where you stand at the door watching them struggle to get their Welles and coat on! 🙂 thanks for commenting
Jenny @ Let's Talk Mommy
So true and so many of us think we will still be out the door on time and ready, prepared for everything before we have kids. Getting two out the door now is crazy for me. We are finding it easier now that they are older but I can so relate. Great post. Thanks for linking up to Share With Me. #sharewithme
mummydaddymia
Ahh I know, I would have never imagined what it was like before I had Mia! But your right, it does get easier as they get older 🙂 thanks for commenting
Sharisse
I can completely relate! I had no idea how it could possibly take so long to get out the door every time we needed to leave the house. My son is 18 months old now, but it still takes forever to get ready in the morning and to make sure I have everything we might need. And then I’ll be late anyway after all of that. I hope I can start getting in a better routine soon too 🙂 #sharewithme
mummydaddymia
Ahh I know! It’s definitely one of the things no one tells you 🙂 thanks for commenting
Laura's Lovely Blog
I think this came as a real shock to me too how long everything takes! With two now I find getting everything ready the night before really helps too
mummydaddymia
Yes I must try that! Thanks for commenting 🙂
Mrs Tubbs
So true, everything took an age … Now she does it all herself, it still takes an age to the soundtrack of me reminding her that the bus won’t wait …!
mummydaddymia
Exactly! Mia is so stubborn and independent, she has to do everything herself!! 🙂 thanks for commenting
kerryvillers
I remember feeling like this with our first child, then again with the second, and again with the third. It’s a shock each and everytime. Now Elodie is one, things are settling down a little bit, but I still find keeping all the plates spinning a challenge xxx
mummydaddymia
I can imagine! We only have 1 and I was hoping if we had another I might be better at it 🙂
Jules The Girl Behind The Camera
Gosh I remember the first few months being a blur of sleepiness. I think tiredness is what made everything harder for me. So much harder to think straight and be organised when youre in slow motion! #BrillBlogPosts
mummydaddymia
Exactly! Iam awful when Iam tired! Thanks for commenting 🙂