Girl Named Crazy

I read this article today, and felt the need to blog about it. It's about being ashamed when you have more than 2 kids. 

To the Lady Ashamed of Being Pregnant With Her Fourth

When we had Kylie, people asked if we were going to try for a boy. When we had Claire, people asked if we were going to try for a boy or if we were done. When I was pregnant with Chloe, people asked if she was an accident or planned (and I was always amazed people had the nerve to ask such a question), and if we are done or going to try for a boy. Now, when we did PLAN to have Chloe we were trying for a boy, but not everyone knows that. Why would they just assume that since we had two girls we automatically wanted a boy? And now that we have 3 girls, we will automatically try for a boy again? Having a girl and a boy doesn't define the American family. We are very happy and blessed with the 3 amazing girls that we have. 

People also assume if you're having more than 2 kids you're crazy. Studies have been done, and the parents of 4 kids reported being the happiest! Having said that, sometimes I feel like I'm crazy. Having 3 kids is HARD work. But for us personally, the benefits far outweigh the work we have to put in. Those 3 girls are our lives, and we can't imagine it any other way. And it melts my heart on a daily basis to see them interact with each other, and the sweet little sister moments they have (when they're actually being nice to each other!) and the bond that I know they will have for life. I am an only child, and I have wished my whole life that I had a sister to share everything with, so I'm so happy to have provided that to my kids. Every day is a new adventure, and I just want to enjoy this "magic time" while they're little because all too fast it will be past. 

The bottom line is - 1 kid or 20 kids (if you're a Duggar) it's everyone's individual family decision, and none of anyone's business. Moms get judged for SO many things, why add the number of children she has to the list? Why can't we moms stick together and support each other instead of picking apart every little thing that each other does. 

Girl Named Disappointed

So, my girls are in a "stage" where they don't like to listen. By "stage" I mean "childhood". Tonight started off well, but by the end of the night I was at the end of my rope. After telling them to brush their teeth no less than 9 times, Kylie went in the bathroom with stuffed toys (why not?) and of course, dropped one in the toilet. She was crying and crying, I told her I would wash it and toys don't belong in the bathroom. I took it into the laundry room and came back, and they had somehow covered the entire counter with toothpaste and water, and soaked 5 towels in water and said toothpaste. At this point I completely lost my temper and yelling and spanking ensued. Now, I'm not proud of this, but it happened. I feel there's this stigma with moms that we are supposed to be perfect and have endless patience, and make perfect Pinterest recipes every day, and go to school functions, plan perfect birthday parties, have perfectly clean houses, laundry done, dinner made...all while working 40+ hours a week! Today, for me, I've been sick, I'm tired, with work stress and everything else, I took it out on my kids. I debated whether or not to talk about this private part of my day, but you can judge me if you want - I wanted to share it so other moms that this happens to don't feel like I did afterwards. Like the worst mom in the world. 

Then this happened. I was putting Kylie to bed, and I had tears in my eyes from the guilt and frustration. She asked if I was crying and I told her I'm sorry I yelled at her, I shouldn't have done that. She says "Well, when I need to stop crying I just calm myself, and breathe in and out. You should try that" Be still my heart. Then when putting Claire to bed she says "You need to feel better. I will give you a hug and a kiss so you feel better". Okay, so that made me feel better and worse. I have these wonderful little girls with such big hearts that love me, and forgive me that easily for committing an awful crime in motherhood. I love those little girls more than life itself, and that's why I feel so crappy for taking my frustration out on them like that. I then turned to my favorite blog for some words of healing, and read this post:

Finding Joy - What if sometimes you don't like motherhood?

And it of course spoke to me, like her blog always does. I read her "Dear Mom" posts almost daily, because she is so real and honest. That's what inspired me to talk about the bad days as well as the good, in hopes that I can provide healing and encouraging words to a mom that's reading this. I know tomorrow will be better. That's the awesome thing about kids - when they wake up tomorrow they will have forgiven and forgotten, and I get a fresh start. Being a mom is hard enough without all the added outside pressures to be perfect. 

On a related note, I would love to start a local group (Springfield, MO) of moms that get together once a month and eat dinner, have drinks, and talk. We don't even have to talk about being moms, or our kids (but we can if we want!) I would just love to have a support group, and provide support to other moms as well. If you are interested, please comment below, or if we're friends on Facebook, message me! Us moms have to stick together, and let each other know that we are perfect, at least in our children's eyes! And our kids don't care about Pinterest, or a perfectly clean house, they care about us spending time with them, paying attention to them. They just want us to be their mom.