I am feeling old

OK, so I know I am not really old, but I sure am tired. I can't believe that I used to babysit all the time for anywhere from 1 to 6 children and be no worse for the wear. In fact, I spend 4 days a week babysitting for a family with twins and another baby 14 months older as well as 5 year old for an entire summer -- actually watched them for 2 summers beginning when the twins were newborns. And, while not always easy, most days I felt energized.

Well, today I babysat for a friend's baby who is 10 months old. And my 19 month old little girl was not really happy to share her mommy (or her toys). It was funny really to watch the two of them fight over her baby strollers. In his defense, Luca, or "bebe la la" as Katelyn calls him, really just wanted something to push so he could walk, and I later caught him head butting one of her dolls. Katelyn did give him quite a few hugs and loving pats as well, and she kept pulling out is binky and giving him a sip of water from his cup and then sticking the binky back in his mouth (it was hilarious and sweet). But I digress.

I realized today how difficult it must be to be a stay at home mom with two kids less than a year apart. The little one still takes 2 naps and mine is down to one nap. His, around 9:30 ish for about an hour and mine around noonish for 1.5-2 hours, then his again around 3ish for 1.5 hours. So, one of them is sleeping most of the day, but not together, so no rest for the weary. You can't even leave the house b/c someone needs to nap. And, I only have one high chair, so I had to feed them in shifts. Since Katelyn thinks she needs to eat whenever she sees food she whined through each of his meals. In my free time, I picked up the toys that had exploded all over the family room.

After Luca's mommy picked him up, Katelyn had one temper tantrum after another for the next hour or so. I finally got her to the park (a feat that took about 15-20 minutes since she insisted on bringing her stroller and most of her babies) to allow her to run off some energy. After 20 minutes or so at the park her little cheeks were red and her hair was saturated; I got her to cooperate and get in the stroller for the ride home. And then I was a lazy mommy... I took her to McDonald's (I know, it is horrible, and I swore my child would NEVER have fast food) for a cheeseburger, apples and milk (had to be a little healthy). We came home, had a bath with MiMi (one of her favorite bath books from Baby Einstein) and her new Corolle Tidoo baby doll. She was so sweet with her baby... she didn't want to leave her in the tub to dry, so I had to find a towel for her (I used a hand towel). She held that baby and kept kissing her. She made sure that the baby could hear the bedtime stories as well. And then I convinced her that her other baby needed to be the one to go to bed with her (so I could hang Tidoo up to dry :) I snuggled in the rocker listening to lullabies and then put Katelyn in her bed. She gave me a sweet smile as I told her goodnight. I just love our bedtime routine!

I watched one of my shows on the DVR that I missed earlier in the week and now I am watching a Grey's Anatomy rerun as I type this. And I am exhausted... so I think I will go to bed super early. See, I am getting old. And tomorrow I get to explore some daycare centers.