I just wanted to clear that up. Just want to make sure that all you other mommies out there know that I am over ¾ mortal and fallible. My house is clean today, but only because I paid somebody to clean it. I’d go ahead and espouse my long list of parenting mistakes, but I’m sure that wouldn’t make either of us feel good. I haven’t fooled myself into thinking I’ve got this thing fully nailed. I do, however, really, really enjoy being a Mommy. I’m having a great time with my kids right now, and that’s half the battle.
I had completely mentally prepared myself for the first six weeks with the newborn to be the fifth dimension of hell. I’ve had numerous people say to me, with only the two kids, “Wow, you’ve got your hands full!” I didn’t consider that to be the case, but I thought, “Wow, I’m going to REALLY have my hands full with three!” I had a friend mention that she overheard a co-worker talking about how the transition from one to two kids was crazy, but the transition to three kids was just stupid. And I can see how that would be the case. Think about it: while Mommy is trapped nursing on the couch, there are not a lot of hyjinx just one kid can get up to. Sure, they may chase the cat, dump out a box of cereal, or throw a toy or two into the toilet, but there’s not much they can get up to that is irreparable or requires immediate attention. Now, picture nursing on the couch and hearing, “Just eat it. Mom won’t know,” or “Don’t worry, we can just ride it down the stairs,” or even just, “Just do it. C’mon, do it!” These are phrases that could strike terror in a mommy’s heart. With three kids, you could end up with one chasing the other around the living room with a belt, or talking the other into sliding down the stairs in a laundry hamper, all while you’re sitting helpless on the couch nursing.
Fortunately, that’s not what’s happening here. Now, these are still early days, but I honestly am feeling like the transition from two kids to three kids is not a lot of a transition at all. Talia is (bless her) a very easy baby so far and she mostly just sleeps. It does take me an extra hour to get out of the house in the morning, so don’t expect to see me before 10am, but other than that, things are surprisingly easy. Maybe it’s a matter of perspective. Our first week and a half was rough. Talia had some feeding issues that took a few days to resolve—days in which I had to top her up after every feeding by pumping milk and then feeding it to her through a tube held against my finger. This required constant pumping, sterilizing, finger-feeding, sterilizing, breastfeeding, etc. Two solid days of constant “feeding the baby”. Then, as soon as that all got resolved, David came down with strep throat. I can’t even blog about it, it was so utterly terrible. He was sequestered in the basement and I was upstairs with my four-year-old, two-year-old, and one-week-old. I was still hurting from the birth and I was an emotional mess, but fortunately after a couple days of constant mini-breakdowns I wised up and phoned my mom, who came and rescued us. I can’t believe I was able to ask for help and I am so enormously grateful to have a mom that would drop her life with an hour’s notice, hop a ferry, and take total care of us for three days.
So now that life is back to “normal”, this all feels really easy. That, and since Talia is gaining weight like a champ now, I have no problem interrupting her mid-feed to stop the kids from giving each other haircuts. I sure hope I’m not eating these words in a week!
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