logistic of 2 kids under 3

Hahaha! It's not that bad. I'm already thinking of nr. 3...

But yes, you don't have any other option. If you don't work from home or work at all, it will be much easier. I always have something else to worry about as well. So I have to get everything done in a certain time frame. That adds stress.

When Agnes leave at 4pm, we will for the first time switch on the TV and Nienke will watch a bit of Heidi or Lollos. Or we'll play outside on the trampoline (Sion LOVES me holding him and jumping on trampoline) or we'll go to the shops or something like that.

Hubby gets home some time after this. (I hear you ask when do I make food? Hmmmm.... I rarely do. But I'll put on a stew earlier the day. I normally make the food earlier while Agnes is here and then we just heat it up.)

Bathtime is 6:30. I bath them both together. Sion sits in a bath chair and they LOVE bathing together. Sion is CRAZY about bathtime. I promise you, when it nears bathtime and we don't take them to be bathed, he starts moaning! Can you believe it!
I take Nienke out first, put towel around her, take him out. We then go to her room where I dress them both. Sometimes they are both screaming. You know a baby hates being dressed. It happens. But he has to be dressed, so I just continue throughout the screaming...

Some nights I can settle Nienke with a book in her bed and she falls asleep. Other nights hubby takes over with Nienke. But i always feed Sion after bedtime and then he sleeps. After that Nienke sometimes stay awake another hour (depending on nap she had) and I sort of just let her be. By this time you are quite tired, so if she wants to hang around, whatever. We have to lie with Nienke as well but since she is now in her own room, she falls asleep while we go "fetch" her something. GREAT!

Shopping is also another story. When Sion was little, I put him in a Babysense sling and put NIenke in the trolley. So pushed trolley with Sion sleeping in sling. Now I put him in a kango pouch facing outwards. Works great! If he's asleep, I put his carseat in a trolley and put Nienke in a trolley. There's then just no space for groceries!

I love having two kids. Yes, everything is chaos. But it's lovely chaos. Some days I do get a bit run-down but mostly it's fun. They love each other and both are easy kids. I still feed Sion two to three times at night but am used to it by now. Nienke sleeps through.

So basically: just wing it the first few weeks, be kind to yourself, sleep enough and then you will find yourself settle into a routine.

Ps. I work from home. When? F knows! I schedule my interviews in the morning when Nienke is at school. I have Agnes, who is worth gold. I work at night after they both went to bed. The reason why I won't be writing exams (I am studying again through Unisa) is because as you can see there's no time at the moment to study! Sadly I still find time to eat.

Hi 1st Timer. My daugter was 2 and four months when her brother was born. I won't lie, the first six weeks were HECTIC. She was VERY prepared for the birth of her baby brother. She loved him from the get go and was very caring. HOwever, the first few nights she didn't sleep through like she normally did. She also started crying when he cried. I was left alone with them over a weekend when my husband went away when Sion was only three weeks old. Yes, they both SCREAMED at bath time and it was chaos.

I had a natural birth and could drive immediately. Nienke didn't go to school until Sion was two months old, so she was at home with me all the time. My husband had to work BUT I have a fantastic nanny. Yes, HIRE A TEMP NANNY. There is no way you can be alone with the two of them the whole day, you will lose it. My personal opinion.

Now, six months down the line, it's much easier. Our day looks like this: we wake up at 7am. I "wing it" till 8, when I have to go drop N at school. During the hour, I dress myself while Sion lies in his bath chair on the floor of the bathroom and Nienke jumps around him from excitement. I do my make-up with him in one hand. (I always wash and straighten my hair the night before. Never in the mornings. There's NO TIME.) I then dress Nienke while Sion lies on his changing table looking at his mobile. This is always a struggle since N never wants to wear what I want her to wear. So we fight about this a alot-depending on my mood. I dress Sion if there's time.

Now that he also eats, I take them both to the counter. He sits in his Bumbo chair and Nienke next to him. Each get their own porridge and in between I pack her school bag (I always prepare everything the night before).

We wait till Agnes arrives at 8:03 (she's ALWAYS late), then I leave Sion with her and drive Nienke to school. On days where Agnes is really late, I take him with.

When I fetch her and he is with me and is sleeping, i take him out in his chair still sleeping. Sometimes he wakes up. His naps get interrupted A LOT. Nothing you can really do about it. Nienke comes home at 11:30, so the rest of the day we take as it comes. They both sleep in the afternoon, which means Nienke is not yet tired by 8pm.

Let me post this so long, then I'll get to bathtimes.