What I Didnt Know About Having Three Kids

When I was pregnant with Z, I wasn't worried, I thought I has this parenting thing down.
I mean, I had two kids already, and if I could handle two babies only eighteen months apart, then I could handle this!

How hard could three be?

Especially since my eldest was going to be starting school only weeks after little Zs arrival.

I had no idea. 

Three kids is hard! 

And it's hard in ways that I didn't even think about before I was deep in the ranks.
If you're pregnant with, or planning your third I don't mean to scare you but,

BE PREPARED.

You and your partner will be outnumbered.  You by yourself will be waaay outnumbered

This becomes a big deal at bedtime (tip- don't even try to get them all to bed at the same time, you will fail), and basically every time youttempt to leave the house. It is almost impossible to cross a parking lot without having a heart attack as someone tries to escape your grip while you're trying to push a cart, carry a baby and a diaper bag, and trying to find your car keys. 

You will become a time management expert.

I'm a sahm and I am not used to having to plan my days. We're more of a "roll with it" family than a schedule family. But that dosn't fly when you have a kindergartener who has to be dropped off and picked up, a toddler who becomes the Antichrist without her nap and a newborn that needs to be few every. two. hours. 

Not to mention all that other stuff like showering  

You will not be able to  be everywhere at once 

Never. 

You will be nursing and your toddler will need a drink. You will be helping your eldest on the potty when your newborn starts to cry. You will be helping your toddler down the stairs when you hear your eldest say "uh-oh".  You will wish you had a clone of yourself.

You will not be able to do it all

And it will drive you crazy.
But no matter how hard you try you will not have happy kids, a happy mom, a clean house and all the laundry done. And if you do, it will be a brag worthy achievement.

My advice? Stock up on socks and underwear. 

Nap time will be your sanity saver

And you will plan your entire day around attempting to get the fabled tandem nap. It won't happen often, but when it does - bliss. 

The noise and mess Will be constant.

 I am not dramatizing this, noise and mess will be everywhere. You will actually get so good at tuning things out, that you won't even notice your husband has been talking about his day, for five minutes, and you havn't heard a word. 

It's not all craziness though. There are way more happy moments than terrifying ones. And the amount of love in my home more than makes up for any of the temporary insanity that comes with a larger family.  

Just seeing my kids interact with each other and being a witness to the love that they share is worth any amount of chaos. 

Do you have three (or more) kids? Did you feel prepared in the beginning? Were you surprised by the logistics of it? Leave a comment and tell me all about it.

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