It sounds incredible, but sometimes a random comment from a random netizen can change the way you view life forever. @handsome_latino once shared how he’s now a superhuman, thanks to parenting. Since then, whenever I get stuck in an unenviable parenting situation, I think of him, grit my teeth and solider on. At least, by the end of it, I will have a superhuman story to share with him the next time our paths cross in SN.
Last night was one such night. I was prepared with the possibility of having to hold the fort for two kids because my wife might work overtime. Here’s a list of all the myriad things I had to do before she came home:
- take out their preschool clothes and milk bottle from their bags
- top up diapers for baby girl
- shower baby girl
- but wait, before I could shower her, I needed to change her diaper because she did a massive poop
- heat up food for baby girl
- shower toddler boy
- heat up food for myself and my son
- supervise my daughter’s eating
- feed my son
- smile nonchalantly when my wife came back, as if all this was beneath me
Okay, that list of things doesn’t seem that overwhelming when I write that down. But woah, believe me, it felt differently when I had to act on autopilot and power my way through my thing. Somehow I was behind time. When you go through the same routine every night, you develop a sense of how fast you need to accomplish various things so as not to delay your children’s bedtime (and your precious 15 mins of Netflix time, baby!). I felt rushed and slightly flustered.
Which led me to make certain decisions I would never have made if I felt like I had more bandwidth. For example, I let my baby girl tuck into her food unsupervised while I showered her elder brother. Yes, she’s a strong independent lady. She may be 15 months old but she knows her food and will chomp down on it like a warrior.
She did drop food sometimes and make her seat messy. Ngl, I shrieked like a small boy being bullied by his bigger classmates at the playground. But it led me to take away her food and direct my son to feed her puffs while I heated up our dinner. Yea, he completed his task well. My baby girl didn’t scream once from having her food snatched away from her.
By the time my wife came home, my baby girl and I had finished eating. My son was devouring his snacks. Don’t judge, but that’s his dinner routine - eat snacks after he finishes his main meal. Things were well under control, darn it!
I have evolved to be a superhuman!
I get to do it tonight again because it is likely that my wife will work overtime again.
Maybe someday I will brag about myself a bit further and claim that I am in my element. But right now, having survived this madness is triumph enough!
I learnt something. No man is an island. Even babies can contribute to the harmony of a well-oiled household. Let go and delegate!