Getting ready for baby as a family
Published: 9/17/2012 8:00 AM
Last Modified: 9/16/2012 9:59 PM
No, the mom factory is not closing, but we will be restructuring our services in the next seven days. This is the message I’m trying to drive home to my husband and daughter as “D” day approaches.
Of course since neither of them thinks I contribute anything to the household outside of my paycheck, I worry that the message is not sinking in.
“Things are going to change for a while once the baby comes,” I tell them. They just roll their eyes.
Do they realize who cooks 90% of the meals in that house? Who wakes up before daybreak to iron uniforms, pack backpacks, prep the bathroom and wake sleeping beauty? And who battles morning traffic on the 20 minute ride to school every day? That’s right: Mom.
If it were left up to my husband our diets would consist of a fried chicken, hot dog, spaghetti rotation and I don’t even want to think about how he’s going to handle waking up to get Collette ready for school.
But he says he can handle it. They both say they can handle it. Besides, they already do everything on their own anyway.
As much as I can’t wait to see them eat their words and beg for my forgiveness, I’m still a mom, and I realize that they will still need my help. So for the past few months, I’ve been planning, not only for the baby’s arrival, but for my absence as well.
For my husband:
--Along with the list of people to call after the baby comes, there’s a list of easy-to-prepare, Collette approved recipes.
-- There’s also a morning to-do-list to guide him through the daily tantrums and get Collette to school on time.
-- On top of that, I called in reinforcements: my mom. She’s agreed to come up for a week to cook and help keep the house in order while my husband concentrates on Collette.
-- And finally, I added my husband to my “Collette” Google calendar so alerts go to his phone to keep them both on schedule.
For my daughter:
-- We’ve been practicing the “don’t ask me, ask dad,” rule for a couple of weeks now. I’ve worked hard to make it clear I’m only available for talking, cuddles and bed-time stories for a while after the baby comes.
-- Collette owns her school work. She knows it’s up to her to remind Dad about homework and special projects and to make sure everything makes it to school the next day.
-- We’ve also spent a lot of time talking about what it takes to get to school on time. Collette knows what she needs to do in order to make our schedule work.
I’m not sure if all of my suggestions will work, but I’m hoping it will at least keep them off my back for a couple of weeks while I get adjusted to the new little person in my life.
Until then, if you have any tips on how to recover from having a baby with your family’s help, I’m all ears! I can use all the advice I can get.
Written by
June Straight
Staff Writer
