My husband and I spent all day Saturday babysitting two REAL babies: precious John-Matthew and Pio Coles (2 years and 4 1/2 months).
We knew we needed the practice.We didn’t know how much we needed the practice!
I wish I could have had a video camera on us to capture every hilarious episode of the day. From gagging while changing nuclear waste-filled diapers to arguing in passionate whispers over whether a crying Pio needed a diaper change or a walk in the Maya wrap (it was a diaper change), we had a day full of funny–and first–experiences.
Michael in our Maya wrap with Pio:
I think that one of the biggest lessons I learned from the day was the power of being calm.
Lucy Coles seems unfailingly calm with her family. Her voice is always low, sweet and unbelievably patient. I tried to model my voice and actions after Lucy’s calm example, and I was amazed at the results. The day was much calmer and quieter than I thought it would be. I never lost my cool even though I had literally never been responsible for feeding and burping and entertaining an infant before.
Well, I almost lost my cool during the gag-inducing diaper change episode I mentioned above. If I hadn’t been laughing so hard and hollering for my suddenly-busy, laughing husband to help me, I would have succombed to the fumes for sure.
Michael and I are so thankful to have had this experience. Taking care of an infant and 2-year-old wasn’t quite as overwhelming as I thought it might be.
I think that Michael and I are about as ready for Baby Franco as we’ll ever be. I think we are kind of like two people about to jump off a cliff together. We’ve read the right books and are taking the right classes on the techniques and theories of swimming, and we’ve even gotten to swim in a real pool a few times.
In the end, however, our confidence mostly comes from lots of prayer. That and the knowledge that between the two of us, we should be able to keep at least one of our heads above water most of the time.
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