a very long post about my new life as a mother to three under three for three months (until the oldest is 4)

4:45 am

wakes to nurse child #3

5:00

pang of dismay hits as whines of child #2 are heard, followed shortly by singing from child #1 in a sisterly attempt to stop the whining.

5:05

brings milk to the room of the early-morning wakers, informs them it is still nighttime, and orders them to go back to sleep.

5:10

noises resume from two wide-awake children.

5:45

turns on treehouse tv in hopes of a few more minutes to sleep.

6:05

roaring, shrieking then crying are heard from the living room.

drags herself out of bed to perform necessary discipline, at least it's easy to determine who's guilty: the one hiding behind the couch!

6:07

gives up on hopes of more rest, starts getting ready for the day. admits to God total inability to get thru the day on her own, decides coffee is necessary this morning.

6:45

remembers to put the wet laundry from last night in the dryer...oops!

7:15

husband stumbles out of bed still dressed in last night's volleyball clothes asking "coffee made yet?" yes dear, it is.

7:30

diaper change child #3
diaper change child #2

7:40
diaper change child #3 again!

And so the day begins!!

What can be said about life as the mother of 3? It is absolutely unspeakably wonderful. There are so many moments to savor and treasure, opportunities to do the most important job in the world, teaching my children about this life and the life to come. Moments to cuddle and laugh and play and be silly and love the three little gifts that I've been given.
They are amazing, unique creations and I'm loving getting to know who they are, enjoying them and caring for them. Not so much loving the training and correction aspect, but yup, it's definitely necessary! Some of these people who deny the sinful nature of men need to go have some children I think!! (0:
We are incredibly blessed...with children, with love, with wonderful family and friends around us.
I have found, however that the first 4 weeks as a mother to 3 have been full of very high 'highs' and very low 'lows'....that is probably partly hormonal as well, as my body gets used to not being pregnant. There are some days that I'm on cloud nine (for at least part of the day!) and some when I feel like an over-tired, cranky, nearly done-in, unhygienic (don't get me started on how rare showers are right now!), flabby, unproductive, unmotivated, grumpy old zombie!!

There are mornings when I finally see myself in the mirror around lunchtime, and remember that I haven't done my makeup, and when was the last time I brushed my teeth?

There are times I wander about room to room trying desperately to remember my last conscious thought...but the only thing I can remember is that I was on my way to do something.

In the morning (and this is post-coffee) there are times when it summons all of my mental ability to create a simple list of what do to next, such as : make breakfast, wash the dishes, fold the laundry! This list is necessary to save me from aimless wandering whilst bemoaning the pathetic state of my house.

Ahhh, for those university days where I created untold idealistic theories in my head and wrote a multitude of papers on many subjects which I would never really need to know, such as "the urban density and housing style analysis for south langley" and "types of rock existing in the great canadian shield." Now it's the simple things, for example I had a good laugh at myself yesterday as I was trying to figure out the age of our house, which was built in 1980...doing the math, figuring, adding, until the light bulb went on...I WAS BORN IN 1980!! Will the mental capacity ever return? I just don't know.

There are hours when it seems one child stops crying in order for another to start, then that one stops in time for the other one to start! Just this afternoon at lunch Lesina was crying for a minute at the table and the thought that ran through my head was "well, at least now I can't hear the baby crying!!" Horrible I know!

There are afternoons when it feels like my two older kids would be better off being raised by wolves, as they are being raised by 'Treehouse TV" for the moment, as I wear the kitchen floor thin walking Matalena to sleep, all the while feeling guilty for walking her to sleep in the first place! By the way is there anything mothers do NOT feel guilty for doing, or not doing?

I have stopped myself mid-sentence while talking to one of my kids, mostly Lesina, realizing that I'm not actually formulating a coherent thought and she is just staring at me curiously, as if she was thinking, so, when you get older, you stop making sense?

So if I'm speaking to you and the ideas seem a bit disconnected, you'll please understand that it's a wonder if I'm making any sense at all!

Yes, there are days when the demands on me seem to begin before dawn (thank you Mekaia) and continue unabated until everyone's sleeping (around 8 or 8:30) when I drop into bed completely exhausted! If only I knew when I was 7 years old that I'd be back to an 8:30 beddtime at 27! haha.

But even on those days, in a moment of clarity, I think to myself...there is no other cause that I would be willing to spend myself for like this, dawn til dusk (actually longer), it is all worth it in the end and as they say, it is a 'labor of love'...so here's to all the mothers out there who are probably under-rested, over-tired, over-worked, perhaps under-appreciated, certainly under-paid, but given the most important job of any of them, and blessed with the joys of children at the same time!


The things that I've found helpful to keep a reasonable amount of sanity are:
Help from dear hubby of course (and yes, 3 children have necessitated even more helpfulness than before!!)
My mother! On the days that she comes to visit, everything just seems more manageable!
Conversation with other adults (0:
Patience
Sunshine, and being able to get outside
Asking God for HELP!!
Getting the house tidied up (on the surface anyways) in a hurry right away in the morning helps me to feel a bit more sane.
And...
Remembering the important things are what matters...not having all the jobs done all the time, but enjoying and building into the lives of my children.

Actually, I really need to say what a content and sweet baby Matalena is too. The trials of this month have been more due to taking care of all 3 at the same time, than having a difficult newborn. She's so sweet! And she loves to take long long naps, though it can be a bit tricky to get her to 'stay' asleep sometimes...but that's changing too. This morning she fell asleep for her morning nap on my right arm while my left arm unloaded and loaded the dishwasher!! You know you're a third child when...
Matalena has a very calm and content disposition so far, and we are so grateful for that. Yesterday morning I got my first spontaneous smile from her (you know, without the chin tickling!) and you can't beat that!