Formspring #1: Babies

You asked and I promised to answer. I can't say I was all that shocked when I received this as my first real question from formspring...

"Not that you can go back now, but how do you feel about having 3 kids so close together? Any chance baby #4 is in the works?! You're a fantastic mother!"

You want the short answer? Honestly, I love having 3 kids so close together. Oh, and I also hate it.

As for the long one, we'll start with the Cons: There no denying that there are a lot of difficulties that come with having kids so close in age (currently almost 5, 3, and almost 2 or 19 and 17 months apart). First off, they fight...they fight, fight, fight, fight! I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they play so much together (and so often with the same toys) that arguments are inevitable. But...rumor has it all kids do, so I don't know if their ages really effect it all that much. The hardest so far was when they were babies (we missed the Three Under Three cut-off by 5 days)...because they really were still babies when the next one came along. I used to have people inquire how my baby was doing and I couldn't help but ask, "which one?" in confusion. It was really hard to deal with a screaming newborn and a clingy, whiny toddler all at the same time. Not to mention, it was really really really hard simultaneously dealing with a screaming newborn, clingy, whiny toddler, and naughty, attention-deprived preschooler. We didn't plan on having Scarlett so soon after Georgia and it was a huge shock to the system. I just didn't have enough hands and honestly, still don't. You should see us try to go grocery shopping. We're like a friggin' three-ring circus, which, of course, innocent bystanders don't hesitate to point out to me.

Pros: That being said, there are so many things that I love about having my kids so close in age. They are each other's ever-present best friends. They learn from each other, but they're young enough that there are so many things that they learn with each other. They entertain one another really well (although I can assure you there's massive gobs of destruction and disorder in their wake). I love the thought of them growing up together and having a big rowdy house full of teenagers (crazy, I know ;). One of the things I love most is the idea of them having built-in peers. As my kids are so close in age, I will be having a senior, junior, and freshman in high school all at the same time...I'm really hoping that the peer pressure in this case will be a good thing. I also love the fact that I'm blowing through these baby years and will be done young. I guess the hope is that I can enjoy lots of middle-aged kid-less years to make up for the fact that I started so young.

When it comes to a recommendation, I really can't say. Something like that is so dependent on the parents. It's a good fit for me for a number of reasons: I'm young and have lots of energy, I love change so I really enjoy frequent pregnancies, I don't really feel the need to keep my children babies for very long, and I honestly don't mind being in baby-mode (although I could do without the massive amounts of money spent on diapers). So, if you fit those categories, you might do well with multiple small children.

As for baby #4...We've been attempting for about 6 months now without much luck. It's been a big shock to the system since the other three didn't take much effort (Ezra was the longest at 4 months, but he was our first and we were still working out all the cycle kinks, Georgia was a lucky first time, and Scarlett was our oops). We waited until Scarlett was 18 months to start trying to give us a bit of a break, but we really hoped to be well on our way to #4 by now. Oh well, in the words of Miss Doris Day, "Que Sera, Sera. Whatever will be, will be."

Hope you enjoyed the extra peek into me! Feel free to direct any additional questions to my formspring widget on the sidebar. Have a fabulous day!