So, a couple of weeks ago I was chatting on Twitter with Andrea aka Mama in the City about them diving into the world of THREE…kids that is. We had been swapping jokes about joining the ‘elite’ club and how it changes things……you are for sure a ‘breeder’ at three. Two kids are hip….three you are pushing it, stuff like that. She asked if I wanted to guest post about my experiences and said SURE!!! Then well, three kids got in the way. Because here is the biggest thing about having three school age kids all in the same school. They are a cesspool of disgusting germs and the SICK NEVER ENDS!!!!
Oh and she had her gorgeous little baby…CONGRATS!!! She is a sweetie. I remember when her second was a lovely wee baby who I did not want to stop holding because my youngest is almost 6 and while my uterus is sealed tight and never ever reopening, I still love the feel of a wee babe in my arms. Sigh.
But back to the sick.
Right now, my 5 almost 6 year old #3 is sitting with her face buried in her iPad, hands clutching the side of her face while she loudly breathes through her mouth because she has a cold.
3 weeks ago, she had a raging fever and a cough. A cough that by the end of the Easter weekend had infected myself, my husband and my son. Patrick and I are still coughing. I suppose we SHOULD have gone to the doctor and asked for more serious medication, but really, why bother when the kids will just get us sick all over again anyway.
Last night she had a rash all over her body….you can only imagine the thoughts raging through my brain at just what THAT implied.
Last month I missed 2 days of work thanks to the flu. I hung on through this cough and cold because currently there is NO ONE at the office of the job I just got and would like to hang on to for a while who can cover for me.
But let’s get this straight. I have basically felt like total shit now for over a month all due pretty much to THREE kids in school and a husband who takes public transit, another cesspool of infection.
Three kids when all little and all evenly spaces apart are all cute and exhausting and loud.
Three school age kids are pretty much just exhausting and loud.
I finish work just in time to pick them up from school. I am confronted by a wall of noise that is all three trying to tell me how their days went. None can wait for the other as all their days are way more important than the rest. Then they want to eat because they are always hungry and apparently do not get food unless I am in the same room or something.
Then the oldest two both want help with their homework and they always ask me for some bizarre reason even though I took ‘dummy’ math in high school.
And they are all fighting over the electronics even though we have every single gaming system plus computers, tablets, pods, you name it, known to man.
Oh and lets not forget getting the same notices from school times three that all want money. Two of my kids like the hot lunch program, but I will need to get a second job to keep that going as this month it was $73 per kid for the month. Then were was $22 times 2 for a field trip and then there is the school wide dance and art lesson at $15 times 3 that I just wrote cheques for too. On top of the pizza money times 3 every Friday.
So loud and NOT CHEAP is another way to look at three kids.
I am focusing on three here and now because in all honesty, Tara was raised almost like an only for her first few years. With both her siblings in school, she and I kicked along together, just the two of us. I really enjoyed it. It was like being a first time mom without the stark fear and worry. I really cherish that time I got with her alone.
I think we always wanted a biggish family. Perhaps if we hadn’t lost our wee Scott, Tara would have been number 4 and things would have been REALLY loud and crazy. What is aggravating is that three is an awkward number. EVERYTHING – cars, restaurant tables, rides, vacations, and so on are designed for FOUR…so when you show up as a FIVE, everyone has to make a big deal (or so it seems) to accommodate you. As a blogger, I think too, I don’t get picked not just because of my low numbers but because they have tickets for FOUR and not FIVE for shows and events. I always have to ask for room for one more.
But what I love about three is that I am always in demand, always needed, always wanted and loved. I am surrounded by love. I also love the variety. I have a strapping 12 year old son who makes me laugh so much and is turning into a young man before my eyes. My middle girl is my go to for girl talk and shopping and she keeps me in the loop for all that is trending online. Tara is my kinder baby and I am loving getting to share that new and exciting world for her one more time.
So Andrea, congrats on your THREE. Enjoy the noise, the chaos, the mess and the LOVE….all the messy, glorious love that is now yours. Just don’t mind the looks when you haul em all out on your next jaunt.
Andrea @Mama in the City says
Love your honesty Kerry! We will definitely be a bit of an anomaly living downtown as a family of 5!! I’m just going to fake it till we make it 😉