Life is different now that Lucy is around. (Duh.) For instance, activities have new levels of accessibility when you have a baby attached to your abdomen. Let me share a few examples:
|Baby-wearing|Non-baby-wearing|
|Dusting|Dusting on a ladder|
|Vacuuming|Vacuuming behind furniture|
|Preparing cookie batter|Putting cookies in oven|
|Washing a dish|Washing multiple dishes|
|Eating a sandwich|Eating spaghetti|
|Folding laundry|Carrying a basket of laundry up the stairs|
|Watering a few plants|Planting new plants|
|Putting pasta in boiling water|Draining pasta|
|Drinking iced tea|Drinking hot tea|
|Washing my hands|Washing my face|
|Writing one email|Writing with a Sharpie|
p{color:gray}. Photo: Cooking, especially all the interesting prep time, is one of Lucy’s favorite activities. You can’t tell it from this photo, but she’s usually focused intently on what I’m doing.
This gives me some insight into why the dust bunnies accumulate in the corners, and why I’m often calling Jon to “just do one thing.” The next frontier: learning to wear Lucy on my back. (But I’m considering waiting until Lucy stops spitting up to try that.) Overall, I feel quite content with these limitations — especially since the bonus is getting to snuggle more with Lucy!
One thing I never imagined I would do is this: carry my baby in a sling while hoisting my preschooler into her carseat in our truck. No wonder I need ibuprofen tonight and a good massage. Who needs a gym membership when you could just wear your child around?
Hi Ann – with the dusting – I bought a swiffer duster which extends really long (it can reach our ceiling fans) – this eliminates the need for ladder dusting, although now I have to fight Benjamin for who gets to “dust” since he loves to try it.
Ann, I can’t tell you how many parts of my body ach from wearing maddy! I even preach with her on and play my violin…the only problem is her hands and mouth. She likes to sing while I preach and grab my bow while I play! But wearing her has done wonders for my physical shape. I am 10lbs less then I started and now my flab is gone. phew. So keep her on and watch the lbs fall off.
Brian is tired of the “just one thing” so I have gone to the…you have a choice…care for maddy or do ____________.
Hey, did you know there are milk banks for human milk? I am considering being a donor sense I make enough to feed a small army!!
I agree that babywearing can be a workout — maybe that’s why I’m losing weight so consistently! I’ve lost 38 pounds so far — 12 to go till my pre-pregnancy weight!
i have to say that i LOVE wearing cadence on my back. i am especially loving my new baby hawk mei tai. the padded shoulders allow me to wear cadence for hours without feeling the pain i sometimes get with my wrap.
i’m sure that lucy doesn’t mind the extra dust bunnies if it means she gets to snuggle with you more! and just think…in a few years, i’m sure she’ll be an expert at cooking and cleaning from having watched you at such close range for so long, so THAT should be a bonus, right?
Wearing baby and carrying a preschooler is the most interesting experience I’ve ever had. I used to work in a bakery and lifting 50 lb sacks of flour was just a daily part of my life. But carrying 50 lbs in children while going up or down the stairs, that’s a workout.
Learning Experience: Never attempt to put cheese on a burger while wearing baby. Kaia was able to reach her hand just close enough to hit the back of her fingers on the frying pan. The result was hours of crying, by me of course, and a trip to the doctor where I explained I was the worst mother in the world. He assured me I wasn’t and gave us burn cream.