It's a brand new year

Sometimes I hate having kids. Mostly it's at 3 a.m. when the last thing I want to do is run to the kitchen and make a bottle to feed a screaming baby before he wakes up his sister. Of course there are lots of times when I love having kids, but there is alway an ever-present frustration trying to handle the two of them together.

This frustration brought me to my New Year's resolution. Since it's still January, I think I am still justified in talking about my resolution.

Since the birth of my son in September, my life has been turned upside down. With two children under the age of 2, most of the time I feel a little, no a lot, overwhelmed. At 18-months, my daughter wants my attention 100 percent of the time. At the tender age of 4 months, my son needs my attention 100 percent of the time. That leaves me 100 percent overextended. This has created a situation where I've stopped taking advantage of the time I had with my children … while they still liked me.

This year, I want to enjoy spending time with my kids again. This is a wonderfully exciting time for both of them and I want to make sure I don't miss it because I'm too busy being frustrated with their lack of cooperation.

Instead of getting upset that they have banned together and refuse to nap at the same time, I will make a conscious effort to enjoy the fact that I get to spend one-on-one time with each of them.

Instead of freaking out because I can't leave the house for more than 20 minutes without one of them having a breakdown, I will stop trying to do so much during the one day a week I'm home alone with them.

So what if the wash doesn't get done. Who cares if the dishes pile up in the sink. All that stuff will get done in time. My kids will not love me less if their socks aren't folded, but they might if I don't work to develop a long-lasting and loving relationship with them.
Happy 2008.