I had big plans for that nothing, which, with small children at home, is never really nothing. Gone are the days when nothing meant sleeping in, reading a book, taking a shower, and taking a nap. But, even not having places to go and people to see felt pretty luxurious, and I was going to wallow in it. Even at 5:30 in the morning.
But, this is where having 4 kids comes in. You know, I feel pretty confident as a mom. My kids are old enough now to make me feel pretty seasoned, motherwise, so I love to give unsolicited advice to other parents. It's just one of the beautiful habits I have, and I know that the world loves to hear from me. You lucky, lucky world! I tell parents about my girls slowly overcoming their shyness. I talk about different potty-training techniques and strategies. I love to show parents how lucky they are to have one mild-mannered kid throwing a weak tantrum while I carry Clark screaming across the preschool yard, while keeping a grip on Rose too. I am a parenting pro, you see. And lest you forget, I have twins! The point of this self-deprecation is to tell you that when people ask me how it is having 4 kids, I usually have some sort of blithe response: "Well, you don't have them all at once, so that helps- except for the part where I started out with twins. Ha ha!" "Oh, it's much easier as they get older. They go to school!" "Well, we just love kids!" "We both came from big families, so it feels normal to us!" Truly, though, I love our family. Parenting is hard, but the best thing that anyone can do. You know that already, right?
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| Those Cuties |
Anyway, having many kids ends up being all about the schedule. A typical day for me involves waking up around 5 to feed Rose and putting her back to sleep. Then reading scriptures, e-mails, and various time-wasters. Then taking a shower and getting things going. Making breakfast, lunches, and getting the kids off to school. Changing and feeding that hungry baby, nurturing Clark, getting baby nap in, running errands, teaching Clark, playing, getting Clark to school. Then 3 hours of quiet and a little bit of baby nap before I get the girls, get Clark, get home, get everyone doing what they're supposed to, make dinner, eat, clean up, nurture everyone and go to bed. We don't even really do extracurricular activities because I honestly don't know how to fit them into our lives.
So, that's a normal day. It's the weird days are what throw me off. The choir concert that I attend without Paul because he has a meeting. Sitting with Clark and Rose after bedtime is not so easy. Doctor's appointments are tricky. Days like today, where Grace had a breakdown 2 minutes before it was time to go to school because she was sick and didn't tell me and then later we had to get Camille from school because she was sick too, throw me for a loop! Even though I love being around my girls, it wasn't the "nothing" day I was anticipating. But, as I do at all times, I feel blessed that I was able to handle it all- all of the loops that life throws at me.
