Tuesday, June 23, 2009

...AND THEN YOU HAVE YOUR SECOND ONE...

It is very strange how you change between your first child and your second child. With the second you are more relaxed in your parenting, calmer, not quite so stressed about things....more low-key. For example:

With a first child you sterilize everything!

With a second child you figure, hey, a little dirt never hurt anybody!

With a first child if the pacifier falls on the floor, you immediately replace it with a clean one.

With a second child you either pop it into your mouth a second, blow on it to "blow" all the germs away, or just pop it back into baby's mouth, germs and all.

With a first child you run over there the minute he/she falls, anxiously saying "Are you o.k.? Did you hurt anything? Are you o.k????? Do you want a cookie?"

With a second child you look at them and say "There's very little blood and no broken bones, you're fine, go play now!"

With a first child you put a bandaid on anything, no matter how small. Sometimes several.

With a second child you wipe away the blood and weigh the size of the wound versus the cost of a bandaid.

With a first child, you tell them no, and then you tell them no again, and then no for a third time.

With a second child you tell them no, and then wonder if it's kind of like closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.

With a first child you are very careful of candy, pop or snacks and they may not taste their first piece of candy until they are three, or older.

With the second child they have their first taste of candy at a very young age, compliments of their older brother or sister.

A first child knows their name.

A second child thinks their name is "Hey you, yes you!"

With a first child, you carefully monitor how much t.v. they're watching and how much sugar they are eating.

With a second child, you set them down next to their sibling, while they eat their sugared cereal and watch a t.v. program, hoping you can get in a shower before the commercial comes on and they lose interest.

With a first child you very carefully potty train them.

With a second child you say "Look what your brother can do!"

With a first child you look at the crayon mural on the wall and sigh as you clean it up.

With a second child you look at the crayon mural on the wall and call it "Art."

With a first child, you very carefully and tastefully select their clothes every day.

With a second child you're just happy if they leave the house dressed, who cares if it matches?

With a first child you call them by their name.

With a second child you call them everyone's name but their own, up to and including the dog's name.

A first child will answer only to their own name.

A second child will answer to anything.

With a first child, if they break their toy you say "Oh, I'm sorry! I'll buy you a new one!"

With a second child if they break their toy you say "Ooops. Too bad!"

With a first child you wonder if you'll ever be able to love another child as fiercely as you love your first.

With a second child you realize your heart has more than enough love for as many children as God gives you!



40 comments:

  1. very true... great post Nan! i couldn't agree with you more!

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  2. Sweet post! I've always heard those things, but hope to experience it for a fact soon!

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  3. yep. and then you add number three and four!! it all goes out the door. ;0)

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  4. Very cute. As child #3, I can attest that I was practically raised by the wolves. lol

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  5. So true!! Don't forget these...with the 1st, you start wearing maternity clothes the day you find out you are pregnant. With the 2nd, you wait until you HAVE to wear maternity. The 3rd, your regular clothes ARE maternity!!

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  6. Oh, so true indeed! That last part is what every mother wonders as she carries her second child. And boy is there enough love to go around and then some.

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  7. So true...and it has the trickle down effect too. The more you have, the worse it gets!! Some days I actually feel sorry for my baby girl-considering she's #5! She may never know her real name. {sigh} ;)
    Jen

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  8. Fabulous post and so true! Mine are only 13 months apart, so many times it is like twins, but still...Thanks for making me giggle! Cuz I know that most of those things happen in my house! Poot Colin has even been called his cousins names and the names of the neighbor kids! hehe! My last resort is Hey, you with the head! That usually gets everyones attention!

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  9. I meant *poor* Colin...
    My fingers just type too fast!

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  10. Perfect! This is so true. Nodding and laughing at calling my child every name but their own.

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  11. Have you been spying on me?? I swear I was just talkinga bout this with a friend of mine. She is about to have her third child...My exact words were "with your first child you're just freaked out by everything, but by the time #3 comes along, you're like okay, go play in the street, just watch out for cars!"
    This is so very true!! Poor second and third and.... children!!

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  12. So true. Poor Stunt Man...that kids just runs wild, looks all dishoveled, & has answered to knuckle head for a year now because I can never remember his name. Gosh I love that kid. I was still crazy when my second one came along, but the third one was the kicker. Everything changed. Great post nan!

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  13. And anything after 2 kids...you go from MAN 2 MAN to ZONE DEFENSE...lol.

    Blessings to all of you who are still chasing. I am moving into a different season. Four of my five kids are grown now. WHEEEEWW...

    Blessings, andrea

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  14. love the post! however I just have one child. BUT it stinks because I however am that second child :P

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  15. With my little guy, I started out being that typical OVERLY protective mommy. People kept telling me "oh, it ok. He'll be fine." So as time went by I started to relax a little more. But, I still find myself hoovering over him like a queen bee. I can't help it. It'll be interesting to see how my mothering will change with another one.

    And I know exactly what your talking about with all the name mix ups. My daddy would always go through the entire list of girls before he made it to the right one. That's understandable with 5 girls.

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  16. Amen based on the little I know. I am VERY overprotective in some ways but others I've relaxed a lot just in the 16 months Andrew has been in this world. I told my husband last night I thought maybe we were squelching Andrew's progress (mainly over food) because we are so overprotective at times.

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  17. This is a great post. I only have one child and I totally do all the "first time mom" things that you listed! When she was born, a friend who has 3 kids told me that they only make infant bathtubs for first born children because with 2nd, 3rd and 4th kids, the parents just throw them in the kitchen sink for bathtime!

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  18. Those are all so true! Just being prego with my second, I have started to do all these things to my son. lol Poor guy. I also agree with that last one, I am due in a couple weeks w my second and I have to admit I have worried about that so much how it could really be possible to love anyone more than the one I have, but I know when she gets here that will all change! :)

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  19. Very true! God really does give us more than enough love and ability to raise as many children as He gives us if we lean on Him to do so.

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  20. Sooo true! That was a cute post for sure and I am missing my little guys this week while they are away! Geez, you would think that I could get caught up on blogging...is there such a thing?

    Thanks for the funny!

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  21. it is so true! I can't imagine how people with more than 2 do it

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  22. Yea, if Riley had been my first, she never could've gotten into that pick-up as a baby... cuz I'd have been watching her non-stop. But she was the 4th and you know how that goes!

    She also had pacifiers picked up off the floor, sucked off the germs by me or dad and then plopped back into her mouth. No biggy. Germs make you healthy! ha ha ha

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  23. Oh, Nan...this is a delightful post. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I am a mother of two!
    :-)

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  24. LOL! So true! :D 5 second rule, right?! :D

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  25. Oh, how true...Alex was so fragile and precious...Emily took care of herself! LOL!

    I remember being a little sad the night before I went in to be induced with Emily...and thinking it was our last night with 'just Alex'! But, you're right...the love is so strong for another child :)

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  26. Nan...once again, laughing and nodding my head in agreement all at the same time.

    Just think what it is like with the fourth? Actually maybe its better if we don't even go there. ;o)

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  27. so true, so true


    I was my mom's 5th and i was invisible (in a good way ;)

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  28. soooo true. My oldest 13 really is so different and I think sometimes it was because I was so uptight with him. My second child came 8 years later and at a time in our life where we were very stable and relaxed.

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  29. And by the 4th. child, you find her eating a marshmallow that had been on the floor all day and think to yourself, "well, at least it wasn't a Lego".

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  30. Those are too funny!

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  31. What a fantastic post!! It made me laugh out loud. I have a boy and a younger girl and found your part about fitting the shower in while they are sat in front of TV with sugary cereal hilarious. I have done that , so funny.
    Collette x

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  32. I had an experience with this at the doctor last night, Endless Energy, my 4th daughter had her shoes on the wrong feet. The nurse pointed it out and I said, "I don't even care if they match, let alone get put on the right feet, when it's time to go, it's time to go!" I had the whole office laughing. Great Post Nan, it gets increasingly with every additional child.

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  33. Let me tell you, it gets even worse when you get to the third one. Thank goodness Buttercup was a girl or we wouldn't even have had pictures of her.

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  34. This was a good one. Much of it I can relate to, but I did have a girl second so some things were different.

    Thanks for the laughs.
    Nannette

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  35. Nan,

    Couldn't be more true. Especially in the area of names. My youngest didn't even know what her real name was until a few weeks ago...she is 18 months old!

    Kat

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  36. Ha! This post is so true!
    My husband and I were just talking about the "no" one. Our little one gets away with so much more than her sister did!

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