Posted by My Montessori Family on 10:48 AM in

How things change when you become a mom of three...

Five of us!

Six months ago, our life changed from being a busy family to becoming simply overwhelmed, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week busy family. Now, I have a four year old young gentlemen who is addicted to Legos, a two year young lady who prefers to be called “dolly” and a six month old girl who seems to just get started during the night shift.

A visit to the park which used to be a routine is now a challenge. My favorite hairstyle is a bun. A quiet morning coffee that I always managed to make time for, these days is just a dream.  But it’s also triple the fun! Instead of cuddling with two little treasures, we have three cutie-pies giving us wet kisses. We enjoy observing our older son becoming a leader of the tribe, while our middle princess shares her treasure chest full of pacifiers with her baby sister. Finally, we are stopped in our tracks when our crawling cupid smiles and shows us her chubby cheeks and two teeth. That smile, I tell you, is the most attractive smile in the world!

I'm back to blogging so here goes the short list of things that are different now, with a trio in the house:

• When you have two children, people around you feel sorry to leave you alone with the active toddlers. The moment when your third child enters the world, everybody feels you are on vacation with the three of them and do not need that much help. Quite odd, right?
• With each new addition, you get less unneeded advice from people around you.  It seems that each visitor used to sense they had a duty to enlighten you with a few tips starting from how to give a bath, how often to feed, and how to dress each child per the weather condition, etc.  What a relief being a mom of three, where visitors, relatives, and friends finally seem to trust that I know what I’m doing. 
• The more children you have, the quicker you realize the importance of spending quality one-on-one time with each child. When there is just one, your whole world revolves around that child. When there are two of them, you offer two different activities and share your time between them. When one naps, you play with the other, and vice versa. The dilemma with the tree kids, is that most of the time they are on or around you and their day time naps never aligns at the same time. So, as soon as a helper (husband, neighbor, grandparent, nanny) enters your door, you generally toss them the newborn, and carve out some time with each of the older siblings for one-on-one moments.. Oh, how I love these precious minutes!
• When a newborn enters your life, the other children suddenly seem to become so grown up! Every single mom that I’ve spoken with shares the same feeling. It’s as if your kids grew up overnight while you were in the hospital. Their heads, limbs, and bodies seem to be gigantic. At that moment you realize, people are right, time flies!
• You learn to multitask. The third one pushes your productivity to a whole new level, if you hadn’t caught of before. Some days, I feel as a superhero flying around the house, doing the laundry, fixing lunch, serving breakfast, changing diapers, pumping, and dressing myself. While other days I’m so sleep deprived that I’m slipping on the basics.
• Your laundry-heap never disappears. As a family of five, my washer and dryer work incessantly. I’m glad we went solar to somehow manage the utility strain. By the time you finish folding one load, a new laundry basket is full and awaiting a wash. I’ve noticed my girls change and dirty their outfits three times more often than my toddler son. So, mom of three girls, I feel you ;)
• You teach your kids to help you in all possible areas: with one child you enjoy setting up their little table for breakfast. Having three of them forces you to teach them to plate set on their own. This is one of those role model moments of our older son. Furthermore, the children can help in sorting laundry, picking up toys, washing dishes, and many other areas (In my ebook you may find chart with many practical Montessori friendly activities for each age) 
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• Your wall calendar is full of endless birthday parties, doctor’s appointments, and play dates.
• I never go shopping with three little children while Amazon becomes my best friend! Sometimes I find myself making purchases every day: toothpaste, clothes, gifts for birthday parties, new toys, hair accessories, and every other possible things you might need as a mom of three.
• You subscribe to as many recurring deliveries as possible: diapers, groceries, cleaning supplies, photo albums, books, etc. The main reason is because you simply don’t remember when you will need those things, and fear ordering late or forgetting to order it altogether. Why not take advantage of what the internet and technology have to offer?

As I am writing these challenges can go on and on. Now, the inverse, the great things that come from being a mom of three:

• Your house becomes one big bustling place. One of my neighbors visits us just to be around the positive energy generated by little children. They make you smile all the time and laugh each and every day. The more kids you have, the more of that energy you feel!
• You have the most empathetic team of little human beings. They bow on their knees and kiss your leg when you get hurt. They give you 100+ hugs each day, while saying, “I love you”. They give you wet kisses on your lips, cheeks, and hands. They forgive all your mistakes and misunderstandings. Lastly, they love you unconditionally just because their precious hearts are full of love.
  
• Our kids teach us new things each and every day. My kids show me how to enjoy life to its fullest. They get excited when it rains, and dance when there is or isn’t music . 
• The more children you have, the more often you laugh. They make the funniest comments about random things, such as “I like this lady because her hair looks like one I have in my lego set. I really want her to be my friend”.
• You never feel alone. Loneliness doesn’t exist when you are a mom of three. There is always someone available for your snuggles, kisses, and conversations. 

At the beach I can relax for a few minutes...

• Kids keep you moving all the time. Before I had kids, I never spent so much time outdoors, running with a stroller (because kids won’t let you go slow!). I also never before got so much fresh air, nor climbed trees and play structures.  Children teach you to appreciate the little things, such as new type of cereal in the store, cute pink socks you wouldn't even notice, bubble baths, quirky songs in the car, group hugs (five plus at the same time!) and millions of other things that our daily lives are full of. 
• You value time. With the children you never have a dull moment. So when you do find a quiet minute, you enjoy it like nothing else in your life. Those rare moments when the three of my children nap at the same time, my husband and I are thankful for each minute we spend together. Our kids teach us to be wise with our time because it evaporates quickly. 
• Warm snuggles are the best with the little kiddos around you! Especially, during these long winter days. When they climb into your bed on a Saturday morning, you want this feeling to last forever.
• You never knew your heart can hold so much love until you become a mom. With each child it seems as though you have more and more love that was just patiently waiting inside of you to be released.

This is how we travel as a family of five :)  (10 PM at San Francisco airport)

I can endlessly continue on over the changes, but I’ll end here. No matter how many challenges, struggles, sleepless nights I experience as a mom of three, I would never trade it back for a mom of one or two. Now, I have to run to give them a group hug :)