It's So Hard

I often hear people talking about how hard life can be with 1, 2, or 3 little ones.  Parents who have more than that are often looked upon as crazy, and a lot of people think they must be miserable.

Right now, I only have two children.  I have always dreamed of having at least six kids, but Hubby is satisfied with two.  Which means that although sometimes my heart aches for more little ones, I'm committed to our marriage and to Hubby's happiness more than anything.  Personally, I believe that children are a blessing from God, and who am I to turn down a blessing straight from our Heavenly Father?  But God has also commanded me to obey my husband so I'm content with the two precious little ones I have.  (This subject is worthy of its own blog post which will be making an appearance someday)  If God wants us to have more children, He'll make it happen, and if He doesn't, than I'm okay with that. 

What I'm saying is that I know how hard life is with two little ones.  But I have also been given a taste of what life is like with four children.  When I babysit during the school year, I have my own two kids, plus a sweet little boy just a little younger than Princess and a beautiful little girl about two years older than Princess.  Which comes down to caring for a 5 year old, two 3 year olds, and a 1 year old (although the line-up will change when I go back to babysitting in January due to my friend giving birth to a baby boy about a month ago and the 5 year old being in school full time).  And believe it or not, it's easier than just having my two kidlets.  Yes, it takes me a little longer to dish out food for 4 versus two, and there is more bickering, but overall, it's easier.  I especially enjoyed having the other two kids over to my house some afternoons this past year (I generally babysit at the other kids' house four mornings a week otherwise).  The 5 year old and 3 year olds (to an extent) were able to help carry things when we were running errands, all four entertained each other while I worked on sewing things for my boutique, and the 5 year old was especially helpful with the younger ones.

Look at it this way.  Right now, I do pretty much ALL of the housework and care for Princess and Little Man.  But Princess is over 3 1/2 years old now and is able to start helping me more.  She helps put things away when I do laundry, she is able to clean up her toys by herself, she reads to Little Man when I need to get something else done, she is pretty much self-sufficient in the bathroom, and is able to get dressed by herself.  As she continues to grow and mature, I add more little chores to her list and by the time she's in grade school, she'll be able to help with a lot more housework.  This goes for Little Man as well.  He's just 17 months old, but I'm teaching him to clean up toys which is a good start for him.  Unfortunately, I thought it would be a good idea to teach him how to throw things in the garbage for me as well, but that has backfired as now I have to dig through the garbage each night to rescue toys, socks, remote controls, etc.  Whoops.  

When I see someone with a lot of kids, I don't feel sorry for them as many people do.  I'm actually a little jealous.  Because they probably have it easier than I do with my two children. 

Here are some other good blog posts to read about this subject:
Bits and Pieces
One More Soul