Changes

It seems like just about every six months my life as a mother changes dramatically. The first huge change is when you bring your baby home from the hospital for the first time. If that doesn't dramatically affect someone's life, I don't know what will. Once you get all the initial baby stuff figured out, you coast for awhile between feedings, naps, and diaper changes. But, then the little baby starts to crawl. Now, you really have to baby proof your house. Even if you ignored what all the baby books said up until now, you really can't put this off any longer. If you have stairs, the gates must go in, the outlets must be covered, and the cabinets must be locked. Once that is taken care of, now the little darling starts to walk or run as my kids mostly do. If you haven't lost all of the baby weight yet, this is the stage when the pounds start to really come off. Forget breastfeeding, let's talk about chasing an 18 month old all around all day long. Once you are past the initial shock of chasing a very young toddler around, things do calm down a bit for awhile. But, just you wait until that sweet little angel turns into a two year old. Now, we have the tantrum stage. Nothing is right or good, sometimes, I have even told my children they are not fit for society and we must stay home because of their bad behavior. But, we're making it through.

The birth of each additional child obviously completely changes your life again. I once heard a quote from a friend of mine, "only children are wasted on people, who have only one child." -Richard Buckingham. It's kind of bizarre, but really makes sense if you think about it.

I can't write this post without mentioning the change of having a child who has Down syndrome does to your life. I don't really want to get into it too much right now, but in short, the appointments have multiplied exponentially. Therapists, doctors, specialists, early intervention counselors, meetings, research, this is how my life has changed.

But, where I was headed when I started this post is to the change I have found myself in this week. SCHOOL. I will now live in my car for the next nine months until summer vacation begins again. Payton started kindergarten yesterday. It was a rough start, but I think she's going to make it. It's very strange to me to take her to school every day of the week now. The most she has ever gone to school is two days a week. Now, suddenly it's five days a week.

So, I have entered a new era. The drop off/pick up, chauffeur mom. This stage will last a lot longer than the brief stage between crawling and walking. I don't think it will really change until Bryce is in first grade. Then all three of my kids will be in school all day long. That will be a huge change (in about 6 years). What will I do then? Maybe I'll get a job. Probably not. Until then, I'll be in the car. How much is gas right now?