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What I Didnt Know About Having Three Kids

Having three kids is hard!
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.

10 comments:

  1. one day at a time - that's all the best you can do...

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  2. 3 is definitely a handful! When my wife asked me about #3, i said i was not ready for it, so we opted for a dog, and left our kid count at 2..

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  3. I only have a 20 month old little girl and sometimes I feel overwhelmed. Giving you tons and tons of credit.

    Michelle F.

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  4. This is very true and a great post that I plan on sharing with a few of my friends who just just become mothers! Thanks for sharing!!

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  5. You are so right when you say it is hard. I only have two, but last week I watched my two, then my friend's three kids. Five kids under five in my house. The twin girls I was watching got freaked out about my cat and started screaming at the same time my toddler grabbed a chair, climbed up onto the counter and turned a burner on, on the stove! That day was hell! As soon as those kids were picked up, I knew instantly with my two "I got this". Moms that juggle a lot of kids truly have my respect, and you do too! Thanks for sharing!

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  6. I agree that 3 is a handful! It is a stretch for one person, but it can be done. I think that four (like what we have) is too much for one person to handle. You ALWAYS have to divide and conquer! Check out my experiences with four kids under five --> www.mamamusingonline.com

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  7. Wishing you all the best with third one and the two you have from before! It must be a challenge but you can do it. Just remember to ask and recieve help. It's OK to need help sometimes.

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  8. To me even 1 kid is more than I can handle. She's got so much energy and she's sooooo demanding, I can't keep up with her. Kudos to you, you really are awesome!

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  9. I've got four kids and STILL have a hard time realizing I can't do it all. That drives me crazy!! :)

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  10. I found going from 2 to 3 to be simple. But I had a pretty big gap between mine.

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