I was sitting, watching my kids gleefully run off energy at the play area in our local mall. Earlier that morning we had reached the breaking point of cabin fever. I made the executive decision that getting everyone dressed and loaded in the car was a better option that watching K and E ping pong off all the walls of our house.
I sat and enjoyed the fact that the squishy floors and structures meant they could dive off everything in the enclosure without a trip to the ER. I then noticed a mom with her little boy. She struck up a conversation with me. E and her son are the same age. She held his hand as he climbed up the two steps to the top of the tiny slide. He landed at the bottom with a slight bump.
His mom quickly picked him up and exclaimed, “They really need to put something softer at the bottom!”
About that time E came shooting down the slide and skidded about 3 feet. She giggled, picked herself up, and ran off to explore the other things from which to hurl herself. The other mom looked on in horror and stopped talking to me.
I will not for a second claim that all first time moms are scared or this uppity- many many are not. However, I get the whole “wait until you have another” mantra by which moms of two or more swear.
I get it.
You just don’t fret the “padding” as much the second time around. You don’t have the time or energy. You no longer rush to sanitize everything that hits the ground. (She played in the toilet this morning- drinking out of a sippy cup that hit the freshly vacuumed floor can’t be that bad.)
It isn’t that moms with multiple children don’t care about their kids… They just choose their battles. When you have one, they become everything. You can really focus on all the tiny things. I did it with K too.
I don’t yet know how different three will be from two. I’ve been told that I will be outnumbered. I’ve been told that anything past two kiddos is more of the same. My older sister, a mom of four, said that some days she hits a point of not caring what her brood is up to, short of getting blood on the carpet or burning down the house.
Who knows. We are on an adventure. We will grow and evolve and see where this takes us.
I can hope that this adventure will eventually lead to more sleep, but I’m pretty sure that would be a pipe dream.
Mama Miller Parenting 
I haven’t slept in 7 years so I don’t know about more sleep, but you will definitely be outnumbered and you just take turns caring about what each kid is doing. As long as they aren’t in danger (or endangering others), I consider it a good day! haha! 🙂 The hardest transition really is from 1-2. You already know how to multitask once you have 2, so then it’s just multitasking a little more! You’ll be fine!
I agree that it’s not the same with subsequent children as it is with your first. I am much more relaxed with our third (and I was with our second too) but with our first I was ON IT!! lol I put far too much pressure on myself and our little one too, I’m sure.
You want them to hit the milestones faster with the first. With the second you are like, “Learning to walk can wait another month. Take your time kid!”
Absolutely, and that gets more true, the more kids you have! I want Samuel (17 months) to stay little forever!! LOL