Sunday 28 June 2009

Too quiet

Last night while Betty was out at her grandma’s 60th birthday barn dance, do-si-do-ing and promenading with gusto and rhythm til the early hours, I was tucked up in bed with a chamomile tea and a Snickers. Instead of gallivanting half way across the country on a scorching hot weekend from one social event to the next, I had decided to stay at home with Dolly to relax and take it easy, without my tornado of a toddler charging around the place. And I was really looking forward to the peace and quiet.

However when I waved the very excited Tom and Betty off in the morning, I had a huge lump in my throat. It was the first night I had spent at home without Betty being there since she was born, and it felt really odd. Although it was lovely to be able to spend some quality time with Dolly, by lunchtime I really really missed Betty. Dolly was behaving differently and I can only assume that she was also missing her big sister. We were both, dare I say it, bored, without Betty’s constant chatter and entertainment and frolics.

I had so much time to sit about and think, I suddenly found myself obsessing over whether Dolly’s nails were short enough, whether she was doing adequate poos, if she was feeding enough, and sleeping too much etc. Normally I wouldn’t have time to worry about these non-existent concerns. This was a stark reminder of what a neurotic mother I was with Betty when she was a baby, and it was exhausting. A friend asked me earlier whether it was hard going from one to two children and I can now honestly say I find it much easier with two.

Anyway Tom and Betty have one more lunch date with grandparents and aunts and uncles before they head home today. I cannot wait to see them.

5 comments:

Metropolitan Mum said...

So you are saying I should quickly get pregnant again to stop worrying about her sleeping/feeding/pooing patterns? I am not quite sure ;-)

Btw, what combination is camomille tea and snickers? Sounds like your tastebuds are still in pregnancy mode...

Laura Mcintyre said...

Im like that , think time apart would be nice but it really is not. Life is slightly dull with only one child , toddlers bring so much fun to it

liz said...

Hey Elsie
Just stumbled onto your blog and really appreciate your birth story, I had my little boy 18months ago and the experience is still too fresh in the memory to try for number 2!

I'm a mum and one of two writers of at the The Hectic Mum blog, it's a blog from the creators of the retail site called Get The Label the provide discount fashion for all the family.

I really love your blog so I hope you dond mind I've put it on our blog roll.

Iota said...

I agree with you. Two is busier, but strangely easier.

And the logical conclusion...? I'm going to help you out here, in case you still have newborn-baby-brain-syndrome... You'll have to see if 3 is better still.

sew hot said...

Once you get use to their litle spirit and essence in the house. it leaves a big hole when they are gone. Even more so when they go away to school.