1. Find your pregnant momma’s (or pappa’s) baby book and photos. They will want to see them right away to start making comparisons. “Look how much hair I had by that age!”
2. Learn about car seats. You will probably need to purchase at least one for your own vehicle. They should teach a college course on infant/toddler car seats. Sheesh!!!
3. Look for garage sales and start stocking up on “essentials” for Grammie’s house. If you get one of those portable fold-up beds (an essential), be sure to get the directions!! And don’t try to put it up…or down…if you’re already tired or angry or hot. There should be courses on these beds too.
4. No matter what you remember about your own children, you will still be surprised at how small that newborn is.
5. Prepare to be poo'ed on, and to use that word a lot. Forgot what it was like until this year when I had to change my clothes, as well as the 2-mo-old, when we were all trying to get out of the house to catch a really early train.
In July of this year all three grandbabies were at our house together for the first time.
Their ages were 2.5 years, 10 months and 2 months. We had three different sizes of diapers in various bedrooms-turned-nurseries. Twice someone ran out of one size, so they had to borrow from another size until someone ran to the store. Very interesting seeing a 2.5 year old wearing a newborn diaper…sort of like a diaper bikini! Granddad got pretty tired of hearing all the poop talk…and hauling heavy bags of diapers out on trash day. I’m now shopping for a toddler potty seat for Grammie’s house. I think the 2.5, who will be 3 in a few weeks, is ready…and so are her parents.