Yesterday I talked to my aunt for a good long time on the phone, while stuck in traffic on the way home from the beach–which I’m not used to, but need to get used to real quick-like. That’s just the way it is in good ol‘ So Cal. I also was stuck in traffic on the way TO the beach, because of a road work truck parked on the side of the road with two road workers doing something on the ground beside it. Good reason to back up traffic for twenty minutes, dontcha think? Me too.

(Actually, my whole trip to the beach–which would have normally taken about a half hour and ended up taking almost an hour and a half–is, once again, a whole ‘nother post. Not because of the traffic, but because I ended up driving on the freeway with the high downtown buildings of one of California’s largest cities on either side of me. A particular beach, where a group of mommies and babies waited, was my destination. Downtown S.D. wasn’t that beach. :grin:)

But anyway… I was talking to my aunt. Now the thing about my aunt is that she is not actually blood related to me, but as my mom’s dearest-and-belovedest-kindred-spirit-friend, she is my aunt. She’s also known me almost my entire life and loves me anyway… an amazing feat in and of itself. I could count on one hand the number of people I can talk to for hours on the phone, being that I’m not usually much of a phone-talker, and my Auntie would most certainly be on that hand. The funny thing is that it’s been that way since I was a little girl. She’d call from another country where they lived for a time overseas, and sometimes, if I answered, my mom would have to come and tell me I needed to hand over the phone, because, after all, the call was only being made on international rates! :)

Anyway, again… yesterday I talked to my aunt, on the phone, for a long time. :grin: It was great because I hardly noticed the traffic anymore. We talked about oodles of things… one of which was my life with a toddler and being 7 months pregnant. See, I’ll tell you once again, this Auntie of mine knows me well. She knows all my tendencies, faults and any slight good points, and I think she knew that I might be a little overwhelmed sometimes. So I rambled on and on to her about the past couple days, since John had gone back to work after being off, due to moving, for a good chunk of time. I was telling her some of the cute things Troy does… but then said that sometimes it feels like all I do is damage control all day long, because Troy always thinks he’s being oh-so-helpful when he does things like taking ALL Daddy’s socks OUT of his drawer for the fifth time that day, and lovingly placing them in the clothes basket from whence Mama is pulling freshly dried clothes. Or when Mama is putting away said clothes, or she is working on unpacking one of the last couple boxes, and then she finds him with half a roll of toilet paper strewn across the bathroom floor, attempting to put it all IN the toilet and flush it down the drain. Always, of course, when he’s found, meeting Mama with a grin and some babble that clearly says, “Didn’t I do good, Mama? See, I’m helping!”

I went on telling her how active he is and that he’s just all. over. the. place. these days, and that it was quite different around here, in a new house, without the extra set of eyes and arms that I’ve relied on from Daddy since we moved. I laughed, albeit with a hint of weariness, and told her that only halfway through the first “back to normal” week, I wondered if I’d completely forgotten how to do this mommy-thing.

And she giggled. She said, “Yep, that happens!”

You see, my aunt is the mommy of six children. Her oldest in now at college. Boy, has she been there, done that. Talking to her is like talking to my mom… they can both almost read my mind and know what I need, and are both always so wise, especially when it relates to children, it seems to me. (They are both also laughing right now as they’re reading this… I know them, too :wink: ) She knew I wasn’t saying I don’t like being a mommy, or that life is terrible, or that I’m about to go crazy. I was just saying that there are moments when I get a bit overwhelmed and wonder if I’ll make it to end of that hour without pulling my hair out, just a leetle. :grin:

So she gave me some pointers. Some tips on handling toddlers… and especially on handling toddlers when you have a newborn… and especially on handling toddlers when you have a newborn and your husband is deployed. I smiled because she told me, as have both my mom and my mother-in-love, that it’s normal to feel overwhelmed some days. But that it all works out in the end… if and only if the mama herself is daily seeking Jesus and relying on Him one hundred percent. (“Some days, Ash, you won’t even have had a single moment to be in the Word that day yet, and all you’ll have the strength to do is cry, ‘Lord, I need You, right this very moment, to help me take another step or know what to do next. Help me, Lord!’ And that’s what it takes… He is your strength.”)

The best thing about talking to mamas like these is that I know they aren’t perfect and have stumbled themselves many a time (because I heard many a heartfelt conversation between these mamas when their own children were small :grin:) and that anything they have to tell me comes from personal, nitty-gritty experience. I value that more than anything a book written by someone I don’t know can tell me. (Not saying that books are bad, justsoyaknow…)

So… here’s the deal. I like helpful tips. :smile: In the comments, I’d be ever so grateful if you’d share with me your Number One child-related tip. Whether you’re a mama, or a grandma, or an aunt, or an older sister, or if you’ve ever even seen a child, for goodness’ sake :grin:, tell me something that’s been helpful to you… just for the fun of it. Not necessarily only, “This is how I got through hard days…” but stuff like, “This helped me get a shower sometime during the day when I had four kids under four.” Or, “This can make naps easier…” Or, “Something fun for mamas and little ones to do…” Or, “Here’s my all-time favorite parenting–related scripture.” Practical or sentimental, silly or serious… Of course, if you don’t want to, there’s no obligation. :grin: I’ll love ya anyway. Promise.

Oh, and if you are or have been a military wife and mommy, I’d really, superly, duperly love some helpful hints about raising little ones during deployments. As in, long, thirteen-month ones. :smile:

Okay, ready, set, go!

Oh wait, sorry, that was meant for Troy, who is currently racing around my computer chair, between my arms and over and under my legs, wielding a wooden sword and laughing his lil head off. :grin: