Three 3 and Under--3 Things

Three Things Have Really Helped Me.......

......in learning how to cope with having 3 little ones.

#1. Preparedness

Being prepared pays off big time! Remember the freezer meals and stocking up the pantry and de-cluttering at the end of my pregnancy? Trying to be prepared for things is crucial to survival with 3. Of course I'll be the first to admit that sometimes you think there are diapers in the diaper bag and there aren't, and quite a few times little Justus has been barefoot because I've forgotten to put his booties on before we head out the door. But if you have a mindset of thinking ahead, planning, and organizing in advance it helps a lot. I always try to stuff my pockets with Kleenex when my kids have a cold because I've known the icky-ness of NOT being prepared and having to use their clothes or mine as a tissue! I always try to make sure the baby is fed well before we go out to appointments or lengthy errands. It's not a guarantee he won't cry and want to be held but it at least reassures me that he has had his needs taken care of first and shouldn't be too hungry.

#2. Multi-Tasking

One of my single friends saw me the other day and witnessed me juggling the three kids while my almost-two-year-old was throwing an uncharacteristic-of-him tantrum. She was like, "Wow, you must be great at multi-tasking!"

Multi-tasking is a must for any mom, but especially a mom of more than one child. This means you should be able to talk with or read to a toddler while you nurse a baby, and unless you think starving is fun, you should be able to eat one-handed while nursing or holding an infant. Sometimes you will find yourself doing even more than that at a time. Like going to the bathroom while nursing a baby or talking on the phone while nursing the baby and eating supper. Anything involving the phone is an interesting juggling act with 3 kids unless they are all napping.

#3. Don't Expect To Sleep Much

I've always been a night-owl, since I was a tiny infant (whose bassinet got banished to the hallway so my weary parents could sleep) and no matter what stage of life I am in I stay up late. I'm sure my mom gleefully thought that when I was a busy college student, or pregnant or living with a newborn I'd start going to bed at 9 pm every night, but the truth is that even when I'm preggo I don't go to bed until 11 or midnight! Even later if I'm reading a great Joel Rosenberg novel! Even when I have a newborn I keep my consistent bed time and I don't take naps unless I'm really sick or have pulled an all-nighter or had 2 hours or less. I do well with little sleep. Six hours of sleep is fine but 7 is usually ideal when I'm not pregnant and 8 works fine when I am. This has served me well as a mom because you are NEVER, and I repeat you are NEVER EVER guaranteed your sleep when you have kids. I have a friend who took naps even before ever having kids and usually takes one daily now that she has only one kid. I can't understand it! After all, her kid slept 12 hour nights straight through at a month or two and is an easy child! If you are this kind of mom you may want to consider not having more than one kid or learning to live as a walking zombie. I honestly don't have much advice for the mom who is like this and is pregnant with, or has recently had, a third child. Pray pray pray for God's strength and help and learn to pump your milk so your hubby can help with nighttime feedings!

I really liked what "Passionate Housewives Desperate for God" had to say on this subject. So often we make sleep into an idol and think "I NEED my sleep!" Sleep is something we often have to sacrifice as a mom and the lack of sleep can help us to depend on God more. It's not fun, and it's not easy, but we have to learn to walk in the Spirit, with or without sleep. We are physically healthier with sleep and we do truly NEED it in one sense, don't get me wrong, but if we are always worrying about how much sleep we got or setting our expectations too high we will be more frustrated than if we realize that as a mom of little ones, there will be bad dreams, wet beds, colds and flus, and nighttime feedings galore so we should expect that our sleep will be minimal or at least interrupted.