3 is Enough

CIMG0015-2 Tonight gave me a newfound respect for my wife. We have two daughters: an infant and a toddler. They are both gorgeous and wonderful kids but, as I am learning more and more, they are VERY demanding of their mother’s attention when I am at work as she has been telling me. Tonight, wife went to a scrapbooking workshop and dad was in charge. My son, age 9, was out with his grandmother so it was just me and my two girls.

I felt lucky and blessed at first to have this night to be in charge of the little darlings, but after about 30 minutes I was in what I just described to my wife as complete and utter hell! Throw-up down my back, poop on the changing table, toddler pulled the wipeys out of the container and I had to put them all back, while I was doing that fell and banged her head trying to climb into the pack-and-play, I had 2 screaming babies at that time . . . and a couple other fun things. If you’re a dad with this age kids, I don’t need to explain. If you’re not, I don’t think an explanation would do it justice :)

The toddler hugs my legs almost constantly and whines to be held, the infant screams until she’s fed, until she’s burped, until she’s picked up when you set her down, and when there is any peaceful moment at all . . . she screams again. The toddler gets very sad that daddy is constantly paying attention to the new baby. Oh, did I mention dad has a splitting headache that won’t go away after aspirin Ibuprofen and antihistimines? I had a couple important emails to respond to but didn’t get to until way late and the content was scant due to the demands of my rug rats

Goodness I know kids are just small adults growing up but I’d swear today they were aliens sent here to drive me insane. Marathons are said to be agony for the ecstasy . . . I’d say parenting is the same way.

When wife got home I was so happy to see her. She took the infant and I put the toddler in bed after a nice “night night is not so bad” sales song. Parenting is a proud thing but there’s really not much time to sit back and be proud while you’re taking care of 2 little kids and one big one. I’ve been looking into getting fixed soon and my mom and other people have told me: “3 kids is not much, you should have more” to them I say: “Back back you werewolf in human’s clothing before I throw a bucket of holy water on you.”

But I think I love my kids more than any dad could. They’re the absolute best kids I could have asked for. I hope I can do right by them, it ‘aint easy I tell you!

10 Comments

  1. Sarah Reply to this comment
    Posted July 24, 2007 at 10:11 pm | Permalink

    I hope there is satisfaction in knowing that mom REALLY appreciated it.

  2. Posted July 24, 2007 at 11:09 pm | Permalink

    Oh, I remember those days! My kids are all about 15 months apart and we have 4 of them and there were days there were so many diapers and vomit everywhere, I couldn’t believe it. Treasure every moment–it goes by so quickly!! See and people thing stay at home moms just sit and watch soaps and eat bon bons…pffffffft!

    Glad mom got to enjoy some time by herself!

    Jessica

  3. Posted July 25, 2007 at 5:19 am | Permalink

    Really funny post - glad that you have a good sense of humor about parenting and all that…

  4. Posted July 25, 2007 at 11:11 am | Permalink

    @Jessica: Wow! You had them close together. I know what you mean about treasure every moment. Thanks for the reminder tho!

    @Shelby: I once heard a comedian say that some of the funniest material is the stuff that would make us cry unless we joked about it. BTW, I really like you blog!

  5. Posted July 25, 2007 at 2:45 pm | Permalink

    You have a lovely family and all I can say is you think things are fun now, wait until they are teens.

  6. Posted July 25, 2007 at 4:30 pm | Permalink

    Heeheehee — Our son is 29 and no grandchildren yet. . . I have heard, though, Damien from several mothers of larger families, ie., 5 children each that it gets easier as they get older to have many than few. They swear by it, of course, with 5 - all that housework got divided pretty well, no one had THAT much to do. Sweet photo! We only had one, and by the time our niece came to stay with us for a while, he was already 17. So, I only experienced multiples in small doses when babysitting.

  7. Posted July 25, 2007 at 5:52 pm | Permalink

    @Rose: Thank you for the compliment. I am readying myself mentally for those years!

    @Marcia: Well now that he’s 29 are you out of the woods? I can’t imagine having 5 kids. 3 is a nice number :)

  8. Posted July 27, 2007 at 11:22 am | Permalink

    I had to laugh, because this is so much like a folktale about the husband and wife changing jobs for a day. I’m glad it helped you appreciate your wife…and your blessings. Those darlin’s are beautiful.

  9. Posted July 27, 2007 at 1:09 pm | Permalink

    Thanks Shelly! I certainly do appreciate the sensitivity of my wife (and females in gen.) with dealing with kids.

  10. Posted July 28, 2007 at 11:51 pm | Permalink

    The photo is what caught my eye! It is wonderful.

    That “agony for the ecstasy” is an interesting perspective. Choosing to be right by them, will continue to lead to doing right by yourself and your own happiness! You sound like a great dad!

4 Trackbacks

  1. [...] Riley has found a new appreciation for how difficult it can be as a parent and has realized that 3 kids is enough. As a father to two boys myself, I know right where Damien was coming from with this post and I [...]

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