Don't blame it on Elora! She has very little to do with my newfound parenting difficulty. She is actually a very good baby! It is more due to the sheer fact of being so greatly outnumbered! When Gabriella was born, everyone shook their heads and warned us that the third child was the hardest since there are only 2 parents...but somehow it wasn't too bad. I held the baby and the two boys played together...it worked. But now there are 3 of them running around together...plotting together...getting into things together...destroying Mama's sanity together...
A few examples from the past 2 weeks:- 2 dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, and a gallon of apple juice mixed together all over the floor
- 1/2 a cheesecake smashed all over the sofa and floor (that one made me mad because it was a criminal waste of perfectly good cheesecake)
- smearing wax all over the couch
- climbing the 10 ft fence and escaping the backyard
- climbing the fence into the pen with the beehives - and trying to add frames to the hive...(amazing that nobody got stung...)
- breaking down the door to the shed and sprinkling fertilizer everywhere
The list goes on but I don't have the heart to type it. Everything just feels...overwhelming. Yes, that's the word. The first week went great, because Daddy (mostly) took the week off and was around to help with the kids. But unfortunately, the 2nd week he had to go back to work...and I discovered that apparently I am not prepared to cope with 4 kids! 3 kids are fine - any combination of 3. Whenever one is asleep - or spending the night at Grandmas - or out on an errand with Daddy - I do just fine with the other 3. It's just when the 4th child gets back...chaos ensues...
You know what they say: "if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans..." My plans and good intentions are kind of circling the drain right now. I want to be a sweet, kind, even-tempered mom. (Ha!) I want to keep the house clean and get laundry done. (Double ha!) I want to feed them healthy meals. And yet, here on Survivor Island, it is more like...peanut butter and jelly wearing yesterday's clothes with a grumpy mama...oh dear.
And since I don't think giving any of them back is an option (and you know I wouldn't, even on those days when I really REALLY want to) I am going to have to find some other method for coping with all 4 of them.
At the moment, my coping mechanism is consuming obscene amounts of coffee and chocolate...
I am sorry, but I am laughing over here! I LOVE the new picture! Your blog post was written so creatively. :)
ReplyDeleteMom always says that it is after you hit the 3-month mark that everything settles into place and you find the new "normal". So keep at it! I know you are making a wonderful mother. :) Love you!
Oh, dear. I can't decide to laugh or cry with you. First, thank you for the picture of all 4. I think it's absolutely adorable because it is a glimpse of true life. Kudos to you for being transparent enough to post it (I think my pride would have been in the way of sharing the truth of what went on in my house). Second, we were talking the other day about things I did when they were little, and there were very few things they even remembered! I share that with you because you need to know it's OK to survive - AND win! They probably won't remember how many pbj sandwiches you fed them; how many times they watched a certain video; how much you screamed; how much hair you used to have (my head USED to be brimming with thick hair haha); However, they do remember how many times Mom and Dad kissed; how often we sat and laughed around the dinner table; and the simple fact that Mom wanted to be home with them. I think God is very gracious in erasing some of those negative memories from them or at least allowing the wonderful memories to overwhelm the not so good. Motherhood is the hardest job you'll ever love, and it's obvious that you LOVE your job - simply because you can entertain us all with your blog posts. The looks on the boys' faces shows that they are ornery and loved in spite of or because of it. The crying daughter means that you must be holding your own since she didn't get her way, and the tight lips and clenched eyelids on Elora says that after only 3 weeks, she's learned that Momma will rescue her when it gets to be too much. All of that says you're doing a GREAT job!! Thank you for the example you are setting for all of us!
ReplyDeleteReading this brings tears to my eyes...a mixture of happy and sad! I can only imagine the craziness of four! But as my own momma always reminds me...the craziness is just a season, even though it feels like forever!...and the rewards that will come when our kiddos get a little older will be more than worth it. And I agree with Princess R, the 3-month mark was definitely a turning point with each of our new additions, so hopefully it will be the same with yours. You will find the new normal eventually. ;)
ReplyDelete-Abby