ONE BABY ACHIEVEMENT AT A TIME

I started writing this baby post on my phone a few weeks ago… But, when you only get one thing done a day, prioritising a blog post takes a while! But the baby monitor is on, baby is napping and I fancied a bit of blogging!

So, first let’s roll the clock back a few weeks to before there was any semblance of routine…

There were two things I wanted to achieve in a day. To set up the Perfect Prep milk machine and to set up the baby monitor. Both had been sat expectantly on the dining table for a few days… Waiting!

Simple things, simple instructions (with pictures), both to make life easier!

I only managed to set up the milk machine. Much to Baby P’s delight I picked the right option for him!

These little tasks need doing at the same time as being at the beck and call of Mr Unpredictable… The jobs on my to do list aren’t necessarily the ones that get done! Rightly so: clean bottom, time on the play mat, tummy time and a full tummy are the priority jobs!

I couldn’t contemplate dealing with another set of (picture) instructions on the same day, my brain is no longer in a high gear. And more so, baby was trying to mouth ‘hello’ back at me for most of the afternoon! Nothing else was going to get my attention!!

It took me 2 more days to set up the monitor. On the first attempt I couldn’t find anywhere the right distance from the cot that could get him ‘in shot’. So I gave up. On the second attempt with a cardboard box balanced on a cupboard I nailed it… Although even that took a while to sort out the angles. It then took me a few more days to build up the courage to actually use it! And a week to work out how to set it up to leave the image on permanently!

So the purpose of this post…

I write about these mini-achievements because this stuff used to take moments and was easily achievable. Now they suddenly take longer and feel like big achievements. It actually made me laugh to start with just how long it took me to even get around to thinking about doing two simple tasks! As a result, the to do list gets longer, not shorter!

But it isn’t these jobs or my to do list which is important! That’s the real learning for me! It’s the few thousand tasks a day that I do without even realising that matter.

Looking after baby. And the washing, sterilising, and tidying up. Taking countless pictures to send Daddy and the grandparents is also critical! Sometimes no shower happens, hello dry shampoo!

The two things above took days to complete. But they did get done, they do work and whilst they are little things, they make the days so much simpler! But so much else was done too and I barely even realised.

Of the stuff I don’t even notice, if it is for our benefit it gets done. Feeding and nappies. Doctors or nurses appointments. Things baby needs. Playtime. Meeting my baby-mum friends. Or a daily dose of fresh air for my own well being.

If it isn’t directly beneficial then it does. Not. Get. Done.

Online activity is only achieved sneakily one handed whilst he feeds. A good thing, I don’t want him to grow up thinking that having a phone in his hand all day is OK.

We are now getting there with the other non-critical stuff too. Daddy doesn’t come home to piping hot home cooked meals (just yet). The house is a bit of a tip, worse because I sacked the cleaner (she was beyond useless). But, with baby on a routine I slowly have more time to do other things. I’m not sure it if is me the established this routine, or his circadian rhythm kicking in. But it’s good, mostly!

And I spent a small fortune in ‘Cook’…

I’m not always sleeping when baby sleeps, rule 101! I do in the afternoon, but after a ‘good’ sleep at night I don’t need another in the morning… So ticking stuff off my list is now happening… We have a new cleaner, I renewed my driving licence, bought wedding presents, picked tomatoes (daily, for a fortnight…), booked flights to Vienna, booked an Airbnb, wrote a packing list…

Why did I start writing this post a few weeks ago?

Because I’m amazed how having a little baby totally reliant on me changes my approach to life entirely. There is very little I can think of that is more important than him! So tasks I want to do just aren’t a priority anymore.

Roll the clock back a few months and my work inbox would be clear by 7.30am for whatever cropped up overnight. I’d have a list of what needed to be done that day, work through it efficiently and go looking for other problems to solve if I could fit them in! Nowadays that short time in the morning is reserved for baby’s favourite ‘Rainbow Dance Party‘ (click the link, I promise you it is catchy) so I can have a hot cup of tea and breakfast whilst he gurgles with delight!! And I spend most of the day hoping there will be no problems to solve! How life changes…

We took a major step forward last week. My rule is to do one thing a day to get me out of the house. Well last week that ‘one’ thing was taking baby to London to meet my colleagues and Mr P’s… We caught the train into town. Walked over to New Street Square. Met colleagues. Caused chaos (he announced to a floor of a few hundred people that, yes, he was there and he hadn’t been fed since birth). Had a feed. Went to lunch. Caught a cab over to Mr P’s office. Repeated exactly the same routine (!!) before heading home in rush hour as a family! We didn’t annoy the commuters much, baby slept adorably for most of the journey after letting out the most enormous belch we’ve heard which had the (quiet) carriage in stitches!

That day trip wasn’t really ‘one’ thing. A commute I used to take in my stride felt like a massive achievement this time. Especially with him being only ten weeks. Lots of little achievements in one day. It was truly exhausting, for both of us. But worth it in so many ways!

Having a baby is a lesson in prioritising what’s important and noticing the little things. And the little things are often even smaller than simple jobs like setting up bits of equipment.

It’s worth appreciating the effort they all take! It doesn’t matter if we don’t leave the house for a day, or we don’t do what I’d planned. So long as we are both having fun and he smiles then we’re happy.

It’s the little things

And it’s the little things he does that are even more important than any task of mine: trying to mouth hello (that’s what it looks like), finding new sounds, sleeping a bit longer in a nap, only waking once in the night, gripping the bottle, gurgling in the bath…

Because those things, really, are all that matter. The little achievements each day for us both. The ones that aren’t on a to do list! Going about the day to help baby to achieve and develop and be happy. If I get stuff done as well, it’s a bonus for us all!