A busier life

Well, adjusting to having 2 kids around has been a little bit of a challenge.

Avalon has started accepting the loss of "Mummy time", which is a great improvement on last week. And little Willow (or Wils as she is now nicknamed) is still too quiet to override the demands of Avalon at any other time other than feed time. So she's almost the silent but present member of our expanding family.

We had some friends over the other day, and with Avalon charging around the house and pulling knives down off benches and standing on VCR's, our friends hadn't had a chance to notice Willow sleeping soundly in the room. They asked us about half an hour into our conversation "so where's Willow?". To which we, bemused pointed to the wrapped, peaceful person in the basket on the couch. We laughed at how little attention she gets at the moment. But I know it won't be long before she demands her own "Mummy and Daddy time" and we'll be adjusting to a new situation all over again.

You have to be comfortable with flexibility. Parenting pushes you to have the most carefully planned day, which may need to be adjusted at any moment, depending on the children's response.

Tired days, boistrous days and just overexcited days change the well planned schedule, and you have to just fly with it, and not get too strung out about it. Some days I'll get a short nap, others I won't. And it is a challenge to not be resentful of these little beings who are too self involved to realise if they scream through sleep time, this means Mum is far more tired than normal for the remainder of the day.

But I totally adore looking after my children, and still find it a huge priviledge.

And having two to look after suddenly makes our house seem that much fuller. We're a much bigger family. Craig has his hands full most of the time, and so do I. But we're well aware of the fleetingness of youth. All too soon, these "chaotic" days will be far behind us when our kids are in school, learning from other people. And I know i'll look back at these days with fondness.

My contented newborn cuddles with Willow as she sleeps heavily on my chest. The look of understanding on Avalon's face when I talk her through one of her books. It's all so precious.

It's well worth doing hard things, like having children. Even when at the outset, you have no idea how it'll work.