Schultz Party of Four

Issues I didn't anticipate being of concern before I became a Mom:
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- Bedtime, in that picture perfect place in my mind pre-C I envisioned peaceful sleep from 8 to 8, the children in their cute pajamas dozing off to dreamland following fanciful bedtime stories and perfectly precious prayers. The reality is a tearful goodnight and a snotty kiss followed by a long wait as I sit on the floor, just as Super Nanny prescribed, awaiting their slumber...which will be ended about one hour into my own peaceful sleep so I can play musical beds around 1:30.

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- Potty Time, though a very necessary part of life, my pre-C dreams never really wandered to the bathroom and all that would take place therein. I didn't anticipate the chase that would ensue once the diaper came off my 18-month old. Nor did I realize the heartache I would feel as I watched my four-year-old struggle to 'go' with big tears rolling down her cheeks saying "mommy it hurts!" And never in my wildest dreams could I have forseen the difficulty and shear inginuity that would be required to tackle cleanup of an 'accident' in the tub.

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- Clean Hands, while sweet little hands can be seen on the cover of Hallmark cards, I underestimated how frequently I would be checking to ensure their cleanliness. Never before had I sat on a public toilet saying "Don't touch anything". Nor had I taken an extra three minutes after eating to wipe hands down thoroughly so as not to spread the last meal throughout the house (or heaven forbid someone else's home).

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- Tomorrow, and the next day... probably the least expected concern is my biggest. I never knew how much I would think about their tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. How I would question every night whether this day we had made the right decisions, fed them the right food, said the right things, read enough, cuddled enough, prepared them enough. Because you never know what tomorrow will hold, but I do know one thing...

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J will be an awesome Mama some day.