A Mama’s Guide to Survival with Two Under Two

Two months ago I became a mama of two. Zoey is 2 months old, and Oliver will be 2 in a month. The transition from one to two is kicking my butt, to put it bluntly. We have our good days for sure, but even the best of days are just hard with two tiny humans demanding your full attention. We are slowly getting more into our new ‘normal’ everyday. I feel as though I’m learning a few things along the way. I am obviously not an expert, but below are several secrets I’ve stumbled upon in my (very short) two months of having two littles.

7 Tips to Surviving Motherhood with 2 under Two

1. Mac & Cheese

Seriously though. Oliver is a pretty picky eater, and what he loves one day he won’t touch the next day. There was a point in time where I was making 3 lunches and 2 dinners, only to have all of them rejected and thrown either on the floor or all over me. Ain’t no one got time (or patience) for that, especially with an infant screaming in the swing. The one staple that has never failed me? Boxed mac & cheese. So now that’s just my go-to when I don’t have time to guess what my almost-two-year may or may not feel like eating that day. (Sometimes I buy the organic stuff, because, #healthy.)

2. TV

Yea. Judge me all you want. I was 100% the person that was going to strictly limit my kids’ screen time and never let them watch more than 20 minutes of TV a day…and then I had a kid. And then I had a second kid, and let me tell ya- sometimes the TV is my lifeline. When you just need an hour and a half to shower, eat, clean, make dinner, what have you- never underestimate the value of The Minions. You do what you gotta do.

3. Leave the house. Immediately regret decision and vow to never leave the house again.

Oliver is as social as they come. He was in daycare for about a year and a half, so he loves other kids and getting out of the house. Which is great. Except leaving the house with a toddler who doesn’t believe in listening and an infant is really hard. And Zoey is NOT the infant that sleeps the whole time. She cries. A lot (though we’re hopeful this will get better). So about 5 minutes after the hour and a half it took me to leave the house, with children screaming in unison in the backseat, I’m trying not to swear under my breath and vowing to never leave the house ever again. BUT! I’m finding that I’m getting more comfortable the more I do it, so I just suck it up and leave the house!

My suggestion for leaving the house- start small! When Zoey was about 3 weeks old I thought it would be a phenomenal idea to try story time at our local library. Not my best plan. Oliver got incredibly overstimulated and was running around and kept trying to press the buttons on the projector. Zoey kept fussing and spitting up, and it was pretty much just a disaster. We left early and haven’t been back since. I found trips to Target or small grocery store trips were the best start. Even just going for walks was a start for us!

4. Find a fenced in park

I don’t know why they even build parks that don’t have a fence. I’m pretty sure whoever designs them never had children. So find a park with a fence where your child can’t run away, stay in a committed relationship with said park, and don’t be tempted by other parks that may have newer and shinier toys. It’s not worth it.

5. Double your caffeine intake

Double the kids means double the caffeine. It’s basic math. This point needs no further explanation.

6. Wear the baby

When I’m trying to make dinner and the infant is screaming and the toddler is whining…I just can’t. I wore Oliver a little bit when he was a baby, but let me just say that my K’tan has become more invaluable to me than ever over the past two months. Sometimes life just requires two hands, but my sweet baby girl missed that memo. This allows me to bounce baby girl to sleep while “ROAR”-ing with my son and his dinosaurs all over the house.

7. Park near the cart corral

This has become a non-negotiable for me, ya’ll! It’s no longer about how close to the store I can park- if the only spot beside a cart corral is a quarter of a mile away, we’re walking. When I tell Oliver, “Come here, please,” he views this as a personal challenge to run in the opposite direction as fast as possible. Since I’m not trying to chase him down in a parking lot while lugging a car seat (or wearing an infant), I park near a cart corral. No more worrying about my toddler getting hit by a car, and I’ve found this to be a major stress relief for me.

BONUS!

8. Give yourself grace, mama. I struggle with this so much (more detailed post all about this coming Thursday), but we need to just take it one day at a time, and give ourselves all the grace in the world. We are the best possible mama’s for our littles.

I love my kids more than life itself, and Zoey is the best blessing to our family, but that doesn’t mean this transition hasn’t been hard. You find the things that make your days a little smoother, and, at the end of it all, if your kids know you love them- you’re doing a great job.

What are your survival tips for getting through those tough parenting days? Please share in the comments!

Have a phenomenal day!