This past weekend I had a little glimpse into what motherhood is like. I got to babysit my 1 year old niece for the weekend while her parents went off to Las Vegas. It was a great experience...we had so much fun and she is the easiest baby I've ever watched. But I did learn some very valuable lessons or should I say some things I can hopefully perfect by the time I have a little one running around.
#1 - Remember to make time for a diaper change even when you have a hectic schedule. I was running around on Sunday picking up my sister before church, running back home because I had lost one of Cali's new shoes I had bought the previous day and then trying to find the new church building. I wasn't even thinking about how long it had been since I had changed her diaper. And at the beginning of our last meeting of the day (Relief Society) I felt something wet on my skirt. And it wasn't just a little wet...I was covered in her diaper overflow.
#2 - Kids don't follow YOUR schedule. Cali had slept in until 10am on Saturday morning, so on Sunday I figured I would get up by 9am...get showered and dressed by 10am and she would be ready to get up so I could get her ready. Didn't happen. She was up by 9:15am...so I had to stick her in her high chair and feed her breakfast while I finished getting ready. (BTW...I totally understand why mom's don't always shower everyday.)
#3 - Kids like to eat anything off the floor. This one I already knew, but thought I would reiterate. I was constantly pulling paper, wrappers, food from who-knows-where, and whatever else out of her mouth.
#4 - Find shoes that stay ON their little feet. As I previously mentioned in my #1 I had bought Cali some really cute sandals to wear to church. But they didn't make it there. I had lost one that morning and didn't figure it out until we were on our way to church. I thought for sure it was in the yard somewhere...but come to find out it didn't even make it out of the house.
#5 - There's no easy way to avoid the weather when your car is parked outside and you are strapping in a child. I'm still trying to figure out a solution for this one. When it was time to leave the house on Sunday it was pouring rain. I was carrying 2 bags and Cali so I couldn't hold an umbrella. As we ran out to the car, I started buckling Cali in her car seat. My back was outside in the rain getting wetter and wetter by the second. I haven't discovered a way of strapping in a child fast with all of the straps and buckles that come in a car seat. By the time I got into the car my whole backside was drenched.
#6 - If you're looking for a fast dinner away from home, drive-through is the only way to go (if you're by yourself). I knew Cali liked pizza so on Saturday night I thought Little Caesars would be easy. That is until I realized you have to go INSIDE to get the pizza. There was no way I could carry Cali, my purse and diaper bag PLUS a pizza. I would inevidably drop something and it most likely would have been the pizza.
#7 - One year olds don't like to hold their feet still for anything...especially to have their toes painted. I thought it would be cute to paint Cali's toes for Sunday with her new sandals. But I got only 2 toes out of 10 painted before she lost complete interest and started to scream when I tried to hold her foot still to paint the others. What should have only taken 2 minutes ended up taking 45 minutes. I had to quickly paint one toe at a time and then wait a while so she wouldn't fight me right off the bat when I tried to paint another one.
#8 - Toys are a great distraction when changing a diaper. Like a lot of kids, Cali doesn't like to have her diaper changed. So to keep the screaming to a minimum I would hand her a toy or the remote control (which is her favorite) to distract her while I changed her diaper. Worked like a charm...most of the time.
#9 - Naps are AMAZING! This is a great time to do all the things you can't do while the baby is awake. For instance, tidying up the house, doing some dishes, reading a book or taking a nap yourself. But I found the thing I always did while she was napping was going to the bathroom. I never found a good time to use the bathroom while she was awake...I guess I was afraid of what she would be doing while I was in there. So this was the best time for me to use the facilities.
#10 - Laundry is endless. Kids are kids and they're going to get dirty. But you don't realize how dirty YOU'RE going to be. I can usually get away with doing a couple loads of laundry a week for myself (if that). But that is just not the case when you have a little one who is constantly wiping food, goobers and who-knows-what else on you all the time. And not to mention when they have an accident while they are sitting on your lap. If you're not changing their clothes all the time, you are changing your own.
I have to take my hat off to all those mom's out there. You just don't realize how much work is really involved in taking care of little ones until you do it. (And I only did it for a couple of days.) I found it bitter sweet when I was leaving Cali last night. I was really tired and excited to sleep in my own bed. But I had so much fun spending time with her that I was a little sad. People kept asking me all weekend if I was ready to be a mom. And although I know it is a TON of work...I think I am. :)
