Two weeks everyone. That is how long I have until my babies are 18 months old. I’m in denial, I think. Where did the last year and a half go? (Well, that’s a very silly question, since I know exactly where it went, and it really should seem like longer with all the sleepless nights, and long days, but you know what I mean.) This means a lot of changes. There is the natural progression stuff, like independent play (this is becoming more and more noticeable as we go about the day, and I’m LOVING it), getting into more things (the child-proofing is starting to get tricky around here), and speech and other learning developments, to name a few. But there is one big change that I know many parents really enjoy about this age (at least in my church) is that they are now the appropriate age to enter the nursery on Sundays. Yikes.
At book group a few nights ago, my friends were asking me excitedly about this big step and how I felt about it. I should be excited. I should be proud. I should be ready. But, honestly, I’m still a nervous new mom. There are many aspects about the nursery that give me some anxiety.
First of all, we do not skip naps in this family. Except for a the rare occasion that we are on a flight, or have taken a trip to the ER, naps always get top priority. We like our schedule. You can’t be very spontaneous with triplets anyway, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on that much by staying home a lot for them to stay on their schedule. Church is no exception. They’ve always been early risers, so when we were taking them to church, we were able to squeeze a morning nap in before the 10:00 am service began (hardly every waking anyone to get to church on time). And we always got home in time for the next nap. When their sleep schedule doesn’t line up with the church schedule, we take turns staying home. It’s what works for our family. Your kids may be able to skip a nap and do fine. But three overtired babies are very different than one. They might not turn into crazies missing only one nap, but I’m not exactly willing to to see what happens if they do. The older they get, the more easily distractible they are, so I could see possibly skipping a nap on Sunday without having adverse affects, but again, it’s completely different from how I’ve done things. It’s gonna be hard for me to wrap my brain around that one.
Next item on the anxiety list is the germs. They have been so happy and healthy since we’ve kept them in our rest-of-the-winter quarantine. I know we can’t do that forever, but it’s still cold and flu season, and even when it’s not, a room full of toddlers just screams germs to me. I know I have to get over it, and the kids need to build there immune systems, I just want to be selfish sometimes and three sick babies is not fun for mom. And remember that they have asthma, making sicknesses even harder to deal with. Call me a little OCD if you want, but if you saw how glorious my life has been compared to when they were sick, you’d be apprehensive for me as well. But like I said, I can’t protect them forever, and I always thought their 18 month birthday might be an okay time to start venturing out again, so maybe it will be good for me to get over this silly worry I have.
I also worry a bit about the crew I’ll be dumping my kids on for two hours. Three at once can be a bit overwhelming. They are all great, and I have complete confidence in them, I just feel a little guilty. They say they are ready for the challenge, and I even talked to one today which made me feel a little better about the whole ordeal. Maybe I can get over this bit of guilt. I’m a nutcase, I know.
So we’ll see how I feel in two weeks. I’m sure the kids will be in heaven with all the new toys, snacks, and other kids to terrorize (okay, they might not be that bad, but I can foresee some toys being stolen). I’m not worried about them in the least. I do have a little bit of excitement amidst my anxiety. I love that this service is available, and can’t believe I’ll actually have the opportunity to attend the whole three hours of church. It’s been over a year and a half since that’s happened. I just hope that this big step doesn’t give the bishop any ideas about giving me a calling. Believe me, these kids are enough right now!
9 comments:
We are with you 100%. Use that mother's intuition or whatever you want to call it. You'll know when times are right. Things are just plain different with multiples. People who don't experience it just can't know what goes on. And not very many people experience it, relatively. So you have to adapt to your unique situation. No guilt! You're doing a great job.
Love, Mom, Grandma, and Dad
That was not Elise and jeff. Sorry.
My baby was two years old yesterday. TWO! There's hardly any baby left in her (sniff, sniff, sob...). So, I know exactly how you feel.
We don't skip naps for church. Still. And the germs thing is totally understandable. Seriously, I'm about to quarantine my kids. How MANY viruses can a family have in 2 months?
Also, a girl in my ward kept her premie out of nursery until her adjusted age was 18 months. You could always do that!
I think your worries are perfectly justified. In our last ward, the primary president wouldn't even send her toddler to nursery because she didn't want to deal with him getting sick and then getting the rest of their kids sick. Plus, I am always worried about the Dixie cups. Who can drink out of one of those when they are 18 mo?
I don't blame you about the naps. You have three for heaven sakes. Too true about the germs. When you decide to send them, just brace yourself for runny noses by Tuesday.
OK, so it was Feb when my threesome turned 18 months and I waited four more months before starting them in nursery. Mostly because of the Winter quarantine thing, and partially because I just didn't think they were ready, being so preemie and all. I'm glad I waited.
I still don't skip naps if at all possible. In fact, we usually miss the majority of Sacrament mtg right now because of it. I am hoping that over the next few months I find a better nap schedule to work with our new schedule. But for now, this is what works for our family... and I don't feel guilty about it. When people make comments about it to me, I remind them they are welcome to chase my three sleep-deprived two-year-olds through Sacrament if they wish...
I totally understand the anxiety - but you can do it. Sundays always stink when it comes to naps. I am a big stickler on naps as well. You just have to set your priorities and pray :) Sundays we have to do early/late naps. It is totally different with an 18 mo old than a 2 year old, and I know it is exponentially different with multiples. Do what you can. Make the best of it. Don't worry about the nursery workers - if they can't handle it, they will just call another person.
But here is one tip - don't go peaking in on them all the time, especially if they have a hard time separating from you and KC. Give them 3 weeks and they won't want to leave!
I hear that the primary still doesn't have a pianist. :P
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