Man, when M is out of school, life is much more difficult.
Even though I am probably not supposed to admit it (save your trollish comments), I think I am a better parent when M is at school.
When I am managing both girls all day, I am more tired. M is louder and better at making sure I know her needs and I meet them. The problem with that is that my mothering-fatigue sets in a lot faster when she is home all morning.
L still needs tons of attention, but I am better at figuring out what she needs if I have some concentrated time to focus on her. Balancing both M and L’s needs makes it harder to connect with L.
M goes back to school on Monday, thank GOD. Hopefully, I will be able to post more then too.
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In other news, L was working very hard on learning to walk this weekend. Today, she finally nailed it at the ripe old age of 14 months.
Yay L!
I am thrilled. While her delays in other areas were improved pretty quickly, the walking was the one area where she still seemed a little delayed. Go baby girl!
Congrats, L! And you won’t get a single trollish comment from me about having M home…I am wholly in sympathy!
Annslee walked at 14 months too..I don’t think that is all that far behind. Way to go Miss L!! I am exhausted with just my one at home so I can only imagine…good luck!
Way to go, L!
I think I’m having the opposite experience. When my older is home, they play together somewhat or at least he encourages her to stay interested in whatever they are playing with (if only so she can try to swipe his toys!). When he isn’t here, it is more difficult to keep her going in one activity, so I have to come up with a lot of things to do! Sometimes I run out of ideas!
She is definitely more happy when he is around as well.
My son and daughter only started walking at 13 months, and neither were delayed in any areas, nor adopted. I think 14 months is pretty normal – the slow end of normal maybe, but still within that normal range.
Good for L! Actually, my daughter Leah didn’t walk until she was 14 months old either, so maybe it wasn’t as much of a developmental issue than just her really being ready to actually walk. Just a thought.
Way to go L! I don’t think anyone should blame you for realizing how/when you parent best and doing what you need to do for your girls!
I agree – 14 months isn’t too delayed! Fisher crawled at 11 months and walked at 13.5 or so. And he’s super physically agile now…
I’d love to get Fisher and M together again soon. Maybe we could meet up at the park?
L has it all over my little one. She didn’t start walking until 16 months. Now she runs and dances and tries very hard to jump. And the 2 kids at home thing? Yeah. I’m so much better when the older one is at school. Whoever came up with summer vacation was clearly NOT a mother.
That’s just when E walked too… How exciting for you and L! After some initial sadness that was clearly all about me, I have come to love that E gets around so well. Now it’s all about slowing her down a little!
Go L!
Yay L!
FYI: I am giving Malcolm the credit.
My twin sons were preemies, and one walked at 16mos and one walked at 17mos. I thought this was delayed, but I was told by EI that walking with 18 mos is normal.
Glad to hear that L is starting to walk! My god-children’s mom (which is hilarious since they are atheists, but what do you call the kids?) said the same thing this week. Her youngest needs a lot more one on one than the older one and since the older one is home, it’s been quite the balancing act.
Don’t make yourself feel guilty about admitting your life is easier with M at school. You’re in a routine when she goes and it throws the balance off when she’s at home more. Life with two little ones is tough. It’ll get much easier, though, and one day you’ll look at her and wonder how the heck she turned into a teenager all of a sudden. There are millions of moms (myself included) who understand exactly what you’re going through. By the way, I recently spent a lot of time reading through some of your back posts on racism and have found them to be very interesting and thought provoking. I also can now understand why you are reluctant to discuss your daughters with strangers. Fortunately, I haven’t had any rude/intrusive run ins…….yet. But, hey, thanks for putting your thoughts out there. Oh, and ditto on the walking…..my institutionalized and delayed daughter was the earliest walker I had at 13 months.
walking any time before 18 months is normal. Absolutely nothing to worry about. I don’t think walking earlier means much about dexterity, either. I walked at 9 mo. and I am a total clutz. My three year old walked at 12 mo and can already do a cartwheel.
Walking at 14 months is perfectly normal. My kids didn’t walk until 14 and 15 months. I wasn’t worried – I was happy they weren’t walking yet – because very shortly after walking, they were running – and thus so was I!
Routines are great – for mom and for kids. Changing routines is a bit tough for us all. I’m enjoying having both kids at camp this week (one is at sleepover camp – woohoo!).