Kids- How do you do it?

[danzig138]

The positives - Well, you get to play God and try to create little personalities to match your whims.
Negatives - Children belive it is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.

I have 2 - a 9 year old daughter and 11 year old son. The plus side is really that, unless your luck truly sucks, you'll get to see a couple of really cool people develop. Both of mine are pains in the posterior sometimes, and there are a couple of issues we have difficulties with, but overall, they are really cool people. My daughter is starting to get interested in my gaming books, and that's nifty. My son likes wrestling, although he doesn't belive me when I tell him that Undertaker is over the hill.

The negatives aren't really negatives. I occasionally have a difficulty remembering that they aren't me - they don't think like I do, they don't handle situations the way I do. They are seperate and distinct people, so personality clashes are not uncommon. I'd rather them clash with me than be clones though. Your sleep might be impacted for a while, but you and the SO should be able to work something out. In my case, I got up and dealt with the children. Of course, I'm a stay at home dad, so that's my job. Figuring out what they need when screaming is sometimes frustrating.

Gaming and little children. Do you have parents or siblings who can watch them? If so, use them. My SO's parents loved watching the kids, and my SO doesn't game (tried it a couple times, didn't care for it), so having the kids didn't really interfere in my gaming. If not, then, as others have said, try to game at your house. Up until a couple of years ago, most of my players had kids as well, so everyone was cool about things.

Get a heavy bag. Few things grate on me as much as the sounds of kids crying and screaming. I found having a heavy bag a wonderful outlet for any anger or frustration. Plus it's the only exercise I really enjoy.

Don't know if any of this will help. Good luck and congratulations.

 

[Harmon]

Mrs Harmon has been sick the last few days- nearing two weeks now, she keeps saying that the first trimester is the worst (the books and her Doctor told her that). Lots of weakness, coming home from work, getting a little green about the gills (not lost it yet though), and just generally being a lazy little bum

She is great.

She and I don't read so fast or very well, but she is eating up the list of books you all gave me, while I have only finished two of them.

Simple question- how bad was your woman's (or yours) pregnency? Was there a lot of sickness, tired, soreness, etc?

 

[Wyn A'rienh]

How funny - I just read a response of yours in another thread and thought to myself - "I wonder how Mrs. Harmon is doing ... I should dig up that post and ask".

Now, I hate to ask, especially if the answer is not a pleasant one, but is she still pregnant with two? I know there was some question of whether or not the littler one was going to make it. I certainly hope all is well there ...

As to your question - my pregnancies were hell. Both the singleton pregnancy and the twin pregnancy. I had "morning" sickness all day every day for four months, with both. And with the twins, I was just miserable. I'm only 5'2 and kinda petite so it was hard on my body - I think when I gave birth I was up to about 200 pounds. My legs and feet did not appreciate my standing up. Soreness galore, nasty heartburn ... not to mention the 9 or so weeks of strict bedrest. Oy.

Anyway. For comfort, I can suggest a few things that really helped me -

1. A body pillow. Probably the best purchase I ever made while pregnant (besides the king size bed). It really helped my back and legs. I think they're maybe $10 at K-Mart. Or, if you've got the money and wanna go fancy, you could try something like this.

2. Tums. I lived on Tums. I kept a huge bottle beside my bed at night so that when the nasty heartburn woke me up, I could just pop a couple and go right back to sleep.

3. A back brace. I imagine all maternity stores have them, but I got mine at Motherhood. It's just a band of elastic that you wrap around you, under your belly. It really helps, if she's gonna be doing any considerable walking.

 

[Micah]

Pregnancy can really be miserable. It isn't for everyone mind you, but personally I'd rather go through labor a couple of times than the first trimester, early second trimester sicky stage.

Morning sickness has degrees. Some folks don't get it, some feel queasy, some throw up every morning, some of us lucky gals got to continue throwing up until we ended up in ER with an IV.

I second the body pillow. Also ask your care giver about Unisom. It has the same ingredients as anti-nauseau meds. I found the stuff to be a lifesaver (recommended by my nurse practitioner) for the green stage and the "How-can-I-sleep=when=I-feel-like-a-beached-whale" stage.

It's downright normal to feel tired, achy, and nasty. But when the tired reaches exhaustion, the achy gets worse than the flu, and if you are steadily loosing weight or getting dehydrated due to morning sickness - you prolly need to be talking to a medical professional.

It's one of those times in life where if it's feasible - try to give yourself lots of rest and relaxation (hobby time - etc.) to try and take your mind off how miserable you feel. Our grocery bill was always worse when I was pregnant. Not that I could keep food down but when I wanted something to eat I needed it now. If it had a long preparation time - I usually couldn't eat it by the time I got it fixed - that meant lots of frozen and microwavable dishes.

I'm sure the baby books have told you, but if you can get some crackers or pretzels down before you get out of bed, sometimes that helps ease the nausea. Some folks find success with ginger snaps or ginger pills. Gatorade also can help if you have a day where the morning sickness is getting you dehydrated. It absorbs quicker than juice or water - but you got to watch what flavors you try - some of them just aren't palatable when you are queasy.

Hope that helps. And I hope alls well with Mom, Dad and the little ones.

 

[BlackSilver]

Hay, Harmon, how about an update?

Some of us are curious.

 

[Harmon]

Hay all

Not much to report.

Went to the doctor with the wife yesterday (8/15) and got to listen to the heart beat. I looked at the doctor, and she frowned- "just one," she said, looking a little down. My heart sank, my eyes welled, I swallowed my breath and nodded my understanding.

Its not confirmed with a sonagram but after all we have heard, felt and what we have learned we are pretty sure that Junior (Junior is our sexless name for the baby) is just one.

There is some testing my wife has to take- genetics or something, not sure why we can't have her hospital do it and ship the test to the tester, but out of town we go. We are gonna make what we can of it.

She has been sick, but not losing anything- just a tire, about to hurl, sore as hell kinda thing that keeps her sleepy all the time.

Not much else to report.

Once again thank you, people of EN World, its kinda cool that you all are out there willing to listen and give advice. Take care.

 

[Wyn A'rienh]

I wish there were something I could say.

You and Mrs. Harmon (and Junior) are in my thoughts.

 

[Harmon]

I wish there were something I could say.

You and Mrs. Harmon (and Junior) are in my thoughts.

You have that great icon and positive thoughts.

Thank you, Wyn that is good enough.

 

[Psionicist]

The only advice I can give: Please only raise your kids.

Thanks.

 

[BlackSilver]

The only advice I can give: Please only raise your kids.

Thanks.

I am not a parent so I guess I might be guilty of this, but I am not sure.

Is this like me giving advice to a parent?

Or would this be like Harmon correction someone else's child about how to act in public?