You certainly hear a lot of unsolicited advice when you’re pregnant. The first time I took a walk around the parenting block, I learned to take it all with a grain of salt. To be honest, most of it went in one ear and out the other, and only tidbits of it stuck around for future reference.

Brooke Ashley Photography

But when I was pregnant with my second child, the advice seemed to come at me fully loaded. Most of it wasn’t even advice, but was more along the lines of shock when I told them I’d have two under two. “You’ll certainly have your hands full,” was the most common thing I heard. Seriously, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I could buy just about everything in the Target OneSpot section.

Speaking of Target…I was around six months pregnant and shopping with my toddler at my favorite store. Actually, I had barely made it in the store; I was standing in line waiting to return something. Bunny was in the cart relentlessly avoiding sitting down, and was instead trying to climb out (she wanted me to hold her); I was trying to keep my cool, and failing.

Just before it was my turn to approach the register, a mom walked in with her five kids in tow. I must have stared for a second (or five) too long, because she caught my eye and said, “Trust me, it’s not as crazy as it looks.” I blushed, apologized for staring, and then proceeded to ask a complete stranger for advice.

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“You’ve obviously ‘been there and done that’,” I told her. She laughed and told me that they were all born within 18-24 months of each other and then she asked how far apart my girls will be. I told her (23 months), and she said that I’ll be more than fine.

Since we seemed to have a good thing going, I decided to ask her for advice: “I’m slightly nervous about how to handle multiple kids…if you had one tip, what would it be?”

Her response was gold: “Tend to your oldest child first. The baby may be screaming and crying for you, but it’s your older child who will remember what’s going on (or make your afternoon miserable if she doesn’t get her way). If the baby’s fine (not in pain or sitting in her own gigantic pile of poop), she’ll be okay crying for a few extra minutes. If it’s between nursing your newborn right away or getting the toddler a snack, go get some goldfish for your oldest so she’ll be content; then you can feed your baby.” Genius.

I never got her name, but I’m so very thankful for our run-in at Target that morning. Her advice went in one ear and stuck around. I’ve only been at this two-kid parenting gig for a short time, but I’ve taken what she mentioned with more than a grain of salt and so far it’s made a big difference in my days. While hearing my baby cry is hard, I like knowing that my toddler is taken care of so I can focus the rest of my attention back on the baby. I’m only one person handing this SAHM gig during the day, so this—at least for right now—is a decent way to juggle two kids.

Photo courtesy of Brooke Ashley Photography

Have you received any top notch advice during your pregnancy or motherhood?