Thursday, May 03, 2012

Adjusting: Clownfish

Clownfish is excited about his new baby sister, and still thrives in is status as "Angelfish's favorite person in the whole world."  But, with respect to him, I have not handled the transition from two to three kids well -- at all -- in these first two weeks. 

He's acting out because it gets my attention.  He suddenly insists on telling really long and detailed stories about Beyblade battles, and I think he knows that I'm less than half listening... all I hear is blah blah blah while I feed the baby and keep Angelfish occupied. He procrastinates more and more at bedtime, because by then, AF is already in bed and, occasionally, the baby is snoozing too, so he has his best chance at undivided attention ... unfortunately, right when I am my most bleary eyed and irritable.

It hasn't been all bad for him -- he's had soccer games and practices and runs around the block with Bullshark; we let him stay up to watch some favorite shows together on the weekend (yay Mythbusters!) and we all played some boardgames together.  He makes his first holy communion this Saturday, and we've planned a family party for him at the house afterwards. 

But as much as I am able to say we that, when Angelfish came home, we really did succeed in minimizing the disruption to the time and attention that he received, we (or, more specifically, *I*) really did fail to do the same this time.

All I can do is be aware of it and keep trying to find the balance.  But I do feel badly about dropping that ball more often than I caught it these last few days.       

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like you're all doing the best you can. The first couple of months of a new baby are going to be tough no matter what. I remember how clingy K was after X was born, and it simultaneously drove me insane and made me feel guilty. You'll all get through it! Focus on survival. :)

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