I survived! I started watching my nieces this week, as my sister-in-law returned to work after three months of maternity leave. Yes, that's right. I now spend three and a half days a week watching my son Ryan (7 months) and my two nieces Caitlin (3.5 years) and Julia (3 months). My mom is helping me in these early weeks as we all adjust to this new "routine." But, it is going much better than expected! Twice this week all three kids napped at the same time for at least an hour! I consider that a HUGE success!
I know we'll have our rough days. I know tears will be shed as I only have so many hands and can only attend to one crying baby at a time (not to mention my own potential tears at not being able to meet everyone's needs at the moment they need their needs met). I know there will be days when I will think, "What was I thinking?" when I agreed to do this (not only agreed, but came up with the idea!).
But I also know that I already experience tremendous joy each day in watching these little people interact with each other. I will get to watch a very special bond develop between the three cousins. I will get to not only be "Auntie" to Caitlin and Julia, but a very special caregiver. Ryan will get to be with his Mommy every day instead of having to go to daycare. And for all these reasons, and so many more, I wouldn't trade this job for anything. At least not yet anyway!
So glad it's going well. Yep, when you have more than one child you quickly learn that you can't always meet everyones needs immediately. Don't worry, it's a good lesson to learn and is probably harder on the parent than the child. Good luck!
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