Mom(x4)

How is it having four kids? 

That's a question I get asked at least once a week.

The answer? No tougher than three. 

The kitchen floor gets swept like 67 times a day but that's been the norm around here for a while now so...

Everyone's experience as a parent is slightly different, of course. Many issues factor into how tough or easy parenting children ends up being. Not saying that parenting is easy. It's not. It's the most important job I will every do in my entire life. The only job I've willingly stepped into and would choose to do again and again. With that being said, when I say "easy" in this particular post, I'm simply saying I don't feel overwhelmed on a regular basis.

In my experience as a parent, having two kids is much easier than having one. 

It could be because my first two are close in age - 2 years 2 months apart to be precise. But having two was definitely "easier" than having one. Perhaps it's because they had each other as playmates as well as learning things from each other and trying to "keep up" with one another. Had there been an eight year age difference between number one and number two I'm certain my experience would have been different.

Now, with that said, having three is tougher than having two. Again, age difference is likely a big factor. But when number three came along I felt like I became a new parent all over again, as in, I had to find a new system by which I ran my household to keep it running smoothly. When my third was born I had him (newborn), a three year old, and a five year old. That ended up being tough for a bit. Baby three meant I had to stick to more of a schedule in order to have a clean house, clean and non-starving children, and make it to all their activities on time. With three kids I found myself doing laundry at least every other day. The carpets need vacuumed daily. The dishwasher ran twice daily. Some sort of craft being created the second we were cleaning up the previous craft. And the kitchen floor swept what seems like every two hours.  No joke. 

And all that housekeeping wasn't too big of a deal to me because I like to clean. But when it comes to schedules and time-keeping I'm not the best. Nowhere close. Ask those closest to me. I'm more of a goes with the flow, laid back, why-do-we-need-watches type person/mother/wife. So sticking to a schedule doesn't come naturally. It's something I work at every single day. Once I revamped my day-to-day schedule I settled in well as a mom of three. It didn't take long - a few months max to settle into a sweet little groove. And groove we did. For eight years before baby four was in the making. I didn't know what to expect when four came around but to my surprise it's no tougher than life with three.

Obviously there are changes in our daily lives with baby four here - my living areas have baby paraphernalia scattered throughout them. And Curious George is playing in the background each morning because my little girlfriend loves to see the fun colors. The floor needs a daily cleaning (sensing a theme here?), and laundry is going nonstop. I also I tote a diaper bag around now rather than one of my fancy beloved coach purses but it's not tougher, the details are just slightly different.

I also didn't know what to expect with the huge age differences. But I think that's actually been one reason why four isn't tougher than three. My oldest is 15. The one closest in age to the baby is 9. So it's not as if I'm chasing three toddlers in addition to caring for a newborn.

My two teenagers can cook, the three of them all bathe/shower themselves, they help out around the house with chores. So all of that is helpful. If I had four under four I know I'd be singing a different tune. But luckily that's not my reality!

So there's my answer: Life with four is not any more difficult than having three. My theory now is if you can do three, you can do 12. I guess we'll see if that holds true when we eventually add to our clan.

Big families definitely aren't for the faint of heart. It definitely keeps this momma busy. Some people look at me as if I have three heads when they find out I have four kids. Others smile with delight and share their desire to have a big family as well. I feel extremely grateful that I have always wanted a big family and that I've been able to make and raise one with my best friend in the world. I realize that not everyone can have their own children or as many as they desire. So I take this job of raising healthy, happy, productive children with pride, and I happily sweep the kitchen floor. Again.