Giving you hard truths because I’ve been in your situation and I’d want to know all the facts.
great because:
The children will be super close, yeah there might be some shouting or fighting, but I’d say they play more than argue right now
The baby will pick up a lot of things from the toddler. he was never interested in baby toys he was too busy watching the toddler play with the cars and he learned how to pick them up and put them down the racetrack super early.
You’ve done it once you know what to expect. every baby is different, but at least you’re aware to some degree.
you won’t have loads of different toys everywhere. Well you probably will but I mean in the sense of having loads of baby toys plus toys for a three or four or five-year-old is what I’m saying they’re both enjoy the same toys for quite awhile. The same if you do a day out at least both kids are enjoying the place rather than one being really bored and complaining.
if you do have to go back to work, don’t see it as a bad thing. See it as you getting a break and the kids getting a chance to socialise with new people. I have yearned to go back to work. My friend also had two under two and she put them into school since the eldest was nine months and he stayed there and now the youngest has been there since he was nine months too, and she doesn’t even work. She just found it a bit stressful, not having her own time.
hard parts:
those first 2 to 3 months will be super hard. We had help twice a week my emotions were all over the place and I know we wouldn’t have survived without that help but I still wanted to attack my mother-in-law when she came round because I just didn’t want her in the house due to hormones.
i’ve probably considered leaving my partner about 40 times in the last 15 months. We’re probably only just getting back to some sort of normal with each other.
Only in the last month or so have I started feeling more like myself. But I’ve been at home since my eldest was born because me going to work meant that we would be losing money rather than making money. I went back part time last month and I’ve already started feeling better. I’m off for the next three weeks but then going full-time in January so in some ways if you do go back to work early, you might feel better than I did in that sense. Staying at home is incredibly draining.
we never had any jealousy if anything only in the first two days my eldest was a bit wary of the Baby confused why he was there and then he was fine.
The hardest part is the lack of sleep and the energy you need to look after both. And those first few months nappy changing both kids? You know those baby bins, the really tall ones? I filled nearly two of them daily in the first few months.
We did attempt potty training the eldest and he did actually get the hang of it but up keeping potty training whilst you’ve got a newborn is super hard. We’ve been trying to do it for the past two months the toddlers had a hang of it right away, but our problem is that the baby keeps trying to climb inside it.
all in all it’s worth it
it’s a bit like that saying you need the weather to storm to see the rainbow
and being pregnant carrying a toddler is physically worse than all the lack of sleep and everything I’ve had with having to under two