Lately there are moments when I can tell I have become a parent of two children vs. one.

Like when I call them by the wrong name.

Seriously, how hard is it to get this right? Apparently very. Perhaps I’ll just start saying, “Hey, you.”

Or when I start the car and realize I forgot to buckle #1 in her car seat.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. When I only had one, this type of safety lapse would’ve left me guilt-ridden for days, debating if I should call CPS on myself.

These days I feel like I’m succeeding if I get them both in the vehicle. Forgetting to go back around to buckle the 4-year-old? Eh. I mean, it’s not like I forgot to shut the door or anything. (Also, she always reminds me of my failure before I even start the car.)

And the list goes on to include so many other stereotypical shifts. How can it not? It would be physically and mentally impossible to repeat your debut performance when you are doing an encore.

But despite my fatigue and forgetfulness, at times I think I’m also doing it better, thanks to lessons learned the first time around. I appreciate the opportunity to make improvements now and then.

And then there are challenges you simply never had to face when you only had one.

Like yesterday when I was struggling to make dinner because the 10-month-old kept crawling into power cords, and the 4-year-old kept trying to pick her up by her neck to “help.”

Five minutes. I just need FIVE MINUTES to finish prepping dinner, people.

So I did what any seasoned parent would do – grabbed the toddler car seat that was headed to storage, plopped it in the middle of the living room, strapped the baby in, and told the oldest to pretend they were going on a road trip.

Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Both kids were rendered harmless for a full 10 minutes.

For whatever reason, this scene just cracked me up, and made me appreciate the insanity that now seems to surround us every day.

And yes, the baby is still wearing her pajamas at 5 pm. Wardrobe changes for any of us, let alone all of us, are a feat we don’t always accomplish. On the upside, it shaves at least 4 minutes off the bedtime routine.