Makin' Them...Ah Hem - It...Work For Us

I take my hat off to families with five, six, seven, (etc) kids. Seriously. You're my heroes. Or just downright nuts. Though, I know there are a few tricks in the bag with that thought process. With two kids you hope and pray they play well together and when they do, you maximize that time to a) relax b) more likely blitz the house.

Three has been an interesting routine, rhythm, mould into which we continue to form this little family. On the one hand, having kids who are slightly "older"(and let the record show I am using that term very loosely - they are often more work that the babe), can be of benefit. However, there are mornings I wonder if I'm breaking the Guinness Book Of World Records for the number of times one Mama can say "get your shoes/jacket/lunch/backpack and get in the car!!!!!". (Oh what, it's like that at your place too?) It's taken time but we're finding our rhythm. The clock can show a number no greater than 8:13 before it's go time...we've learned that. We praise one another when we're in the car and it's 8:15. And state the common goal to improve the following morning if we see anything past that. Rome wasn't built in a day people.

But here's what I've found. Any offspring number greater than two (especially with a significant age gap) and you can really get the system to work for you.

Take last week. Two were eating breakfast and one was still sleeping (she's pretty great at that). The thought of a shower was fantastically enticing the phrase "don't fight" was verbalized and off I went for two (well, maybe four) minutes of bliss.

Three minutes into that, a knock came at the door and I sighed in dismay at the anticipation of a likely tattletaler. Wrong.

"Makeda's crying so we went in to make her smile."

Fantastic.

And I took my time for another ten minutes after getting out...walked into her room, and there are two small children racing cars while the wee one kicks her legs in excitement at the notion that they are playing in her room. Keep in mind I think she's got them figured out more than they believe and she's likely thinkin' that it's all going just the way she'd planned. Well played Makeda, well played.

This morning is another prime example of how the system...this "larger family" multiple siblings thing can really play out to the advantage of the Mamas and Daddies...

{one load of laundry, several dishes, and one wee blog post later, she's started to voice her request to be removed from the current vantage point. fair enough...it has been 45 minutes}