Mommy guilt no more!

When you join the ranks of motherhood you also join a whole new world of mommy guilt.  Those new moms out there know what I'm talking about.  With 2under2, I'm experiencing all kinds of new guilt.  I've come to realize in a short amount of time that this guilt does no good for me or my family so I'm deliberately choosing to NOT feel guilt (as much as I can!).  Here's the three main guilt areas that I'm nixing from my life:

1) Correspondance
I love, love, love getting phone calls, emails, facebook messages, texts, etc, from family and friends.  It makes me feel loved!!  It can be difficult to respond in a timely manner with the two little ones around.  If I'm on the computer, Claire demands to sit on my lap and that just doesn't work so well.  When she's napping, I have about a million things to do (but what I should be doing, and occassionally do, is rest).  So I'm sorry if I owe you a response.  I truly appreciate you and do not mean to leave you hanging!  The first few weeks I felt really bad about this but I'm trying to let that go (and respond as soon as I can!).

2) Cleanliness
Josh and I really prefer to have a clean and tidy house.  Let me rephrase that.  I prefer clean and tidy and he prefers tidy.  I swear he literally cannot see dust, or particles on the floor, or spills, because if he could, surely he would clean them up, right?? :)  So we both tidy up and I clean.  We're minimalists so we like having counters and floors clear of dishes, toys, you name it.  This is not so easy with two little loves.  The first couple weeks Josh was back at work I really tried to have the entire house picked up by the time he got home (darn that new huge tub of 140 blocks that Claire insists on dumping out as soon as they're picked up!). That typically didn't happen so I was left feeling guilty and bad.  But no more!  If we're all breathing at the end of the day, I call it a success. :)

3) Quality time
When Claire was a baby, I spent an endless amount of time cuddling with her and staring at her every feature so they were etched in my mind.  While I spend time cuddling with Max, it's not as much as I did with Claire, or would like to do.  On the flip side, when I am with Max, I feel bad that Claire is left on her own.  It's a juggling act.  When I'm nursing Max, I usually have to sit on the floor so I can entertain Claire and she doesn't have to cry or whine at my feet.  She'll bring me books and try to wedge herself onto my lap (it's a good thing she's small because at this point they can both fit!).  Max is left to chill in his bouncer chair more than I would like.  And Claire is left to play on her own (and get into trouble when I am busy with Max and can't chase after her!) more than she would like.  At first I struggled with this, but I'm making a conscious effort to not feel guilty anymore because I have given them a priceless, long-term gift that is much better than my short-term attention--- a sibling.