.....And The Greatest of These is MOM: 2014

I have 2, so there's no going back now. I just have a new found understanding as to why people only have one. There was no way I was ever going to be a Dugger, bless them and all of their offspring.

Lil'Bit is sick, so she is staying home with the Hubs. Me and Bub got ready and let me tell you......he is a different kid when his sister is not around. He listens, he pays attention, and he does what he's told. He minds me so much better. (She is the same way, but it's much more noticeable with the boy).

I got up a half hour late, and we still left early from the house.....that kind of difference is hard to pass up. I wish all my mornings were as easy as today. I have tried a myriad of things to make our mornings more smooth and other then possibly a shot of whiskey…..I don’t think I am going to make it so.

See, the thing is that I grew up with the notion that 2 kids was the better route; at least 2, maybe more, but not just one. Why? Well, you see my mother was the second oldest of 5. Her brother was killed in a car accident when he was 18, and watched as my Grandparents went through heartbreaking times. At that very moment, she told herself, selfishly, that she would have at least 2 kids…..you know, just in case something happened to one, she would still have another.

I thought this was brillant thinking. My heart breaks every single time that I hear a couple lose their only child. As a parent, your identity is transformed when you have a child. When part of that identity is gone - it can be very hard to get back to the way it was before. Knowing you are a parent, but not being able to actually parent your child.   And the love you have, the hopes you have, the dreams you hope come true for your kids....just, poof.

So, I too took up the 2 kid cause and when I became pregnant with Bubbie I knew that I would have another one after him – no sooner than 2 years, no later than 4 years apart. I know – down to a science. Good thing Hubs was totally ok with this too. Hubs already had a son from his first marriage and he was 13 already.   We joke sometimes that at the ripe age of 30 somethings, we could have been empty nesters (as Bubba is now 18).

Needless to say…..I think I should have stopped there sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I am not giving my little girl back…but there is something to be said about a one child household. They get all the attention they need and the child is out numbered 2:1. Each parent can handle the one child individually, giving the other a respite. It’s much quieter, it doesn’t cost as much, and once they grow out of the clothes you can give them away right away. (same with the toys).   I would have much more energy and patience to teach either of them colors, numbers, shapes, vocab....the works.

But alas....I love our 2 kid house. They each bring a separate joy to us that no one else could bring. They look at the world each so differently, so we get to learn right along with them.

And I also know that both kids can be stolen from me just as easily as one. Then I am left twice devestated. It's happened before. I know a man who lost 2 sons in a car accident and by the grace of God and a cold the 3rd one choose not to go with them. I would have been all 3, in one drunken swoop of fate. It makes you hold your kids closer, love them fuller, and hope bigger for them I think.

.....And The Greatest of These is MOM

Monday, April 14, 2014

I am pretty sure I am the parent the babysitters hate.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I know why people want just one kid......

I had no idea someone read this :)