A decade of fun!

            Today we celebrate a joyous event at our house!  Today, my middle child--the little girl who looks most like me, who is my most sensitive, most social, hardest-working, and a marvelously imaginative child-- is ten years old.  As I think about this milestone (I now have more children in the “double digits” than the single ones!), I can’t help but think about what life was like when I brought my second baby girl home from the hospital a decade ago…..  

The day we brought our third baby home-- big sister and big brother watch over her

             She came home to a big sister who was 4 years old and a big brother who was just a year and a half.  My life was very full and very busy!  Every day was a challenge that included juggling two little ones in diapers, nap times and sleep schedules that were never consistent, and demands of a pre-schooler, a (very active) toddler, and a newborn that seemed never to end.  But our third child just added more love and more joy to the happy chaos we were already accustomed to.  

I remember being asked, quite often back then, which transition was hardest to adjust to- the first child, the second, or the third.  It was not a difficult question.  For me, without a doubt, going from no children to one child was infinitely more difficult than any other adjustment in my life- ever.  In fact, I recently found an old journal I kept when my first child was just a few weeks old.  As I read my own words, I was struck by how hard the struggle was to find peace in my imperfect mothering.  I wanted so much to feel confident and to truly master the art of parenting.  The old journal made it all come rushing back and I wished I could tell that young new mother that I once was—to relax, trust in herself and just enjoy all that motherhood had to offer.  

Thankfully, by the time I welcomed my third beautiful baby, I had learned a lot.  I was much more relaxed, much more trusting in myself, and much, much better at laughing at and enjoying the ups and downs of motherhood.   

And, now, all these years later, I have learned that you NEVER really master this parenting stuff….but motherhood is an adventure that is **almost** all fun!        

****almost—which means, whenever I remember to relax, trust, laugh, and enjoy the happy chaos****