Things I Have Learned

This week has been a whole new learning experience for me and I would like to share The Things I Have Learned Being a Mother of Three Children Under Four.

1. My husband no longer comes home and says, "Hi, honey. How was your day?" He says, "What did they DO to you?"

2. All three children will be hungry/thirsty at the same time. The ones that can hold their own beverage will not ask for one, however, until the baby is being fed.

3. Both children in diapers will need a change at the same time while the potty-trained one uses the bathroom. Mommy will also have to go, but will have to wait several hours until they are all napping.

4. Speaking of naptime, it will overlap by mere minutes, thus leaving Mommy with little naptime. Unless she takes the baby to bed with her, thus resulting in waking up sore in several places at once.

5. The oldest is big enough to feed the baby so that Mommy can get supper ready. (A great benefit to bottle-feeding, I might add!)

6. Any poor, unsuspecting adult who calls my home will get stuck on the phone so I can hear an adult voice. Except telemarketers. I still hang up on them.

Okay, so it's not all bad. I love having three kids so close in age. They are darling and the boys are more enamored with Anna every day. They love talking to her when she's stretching and she seems to want to talk back. I love talking to her as well. She keeps making pleasant expressions and seems close to smiling already. She's such a little darling and gets showered with lots of attention around here. It's nice to have someone that doesn't need to be shooed out of the coat closet, dragged off a sibling, or kept off the counter.

I haven't forgotten the boys--we're having fun together. Anna took a nice, long nap this afternoon and we were able to read our way through a stack of books. Yesterday we baked a special treat while she napped. Ben and I danced to some music for awhile today and Matthew and I have our usual chats daily.

I've been giving myself pep talks that go like this: The first week is the hardest. This will get easier. They won't be helpless forever. Yada, yada, yada. I think I'm starting to believe myself.

And I still have a smile on my face at the end of the day.