Saturdays mean it's my first full day of kids. I am patient. I am funny. I am energetic. Sundays are my second full day of kids. Sometimes solo. You may have missed this but they are all two. Yes, TWO! They are mature two year olds which means the attitude and defiance and independence that apparently goes with three, actually came at two for us. I so love these little funny smart wonderful people. But they are exhausting. And frustrating. And I yelled at them. On Sunday. I felt terrible. It was over nothing consequential, but the fact is that they will not ever do what I tell them. Our top two house rules are "Be kind." and "Listen." They know it. They refuse to obey.
I realize that my Sundays are the equivalent of my nanny's TUESDAY or my darling triplet stay at home momma friends EVERY DAY, but they are still killing me. Which means I feel guilty. And like a terrible mom. We moms are so bad about comparing ourselves to other moms. We had the wonderful opportunity to do a play date Saturday with two kids that will be in our kids' school class (they were in our class last year, and they were the kids TWO favorites, and we once again hit the jackpot with these two). I love these moms. They are both stay at home moms, though I know they're never home with all they do, and we were swapping stories. At one point one of them said, "Wow. So you work full time, and have triplets, and have book coming out? I feel like a slacker." And it was all I could do not to reply, "You sew all your kids clothes and entertain and volunteer at the school and manage being at home without strangling your kids, I'M the slacker!' We compare. We always feel less than.
But you know what, if you are a mom, you rock. You do all you do, whatever that is, in whatever forum, and it is a lot of work. You are a maid, a cook, an employee, an employer, a wife, a mom, a dictator, a servant, a nurse, a teacher, a playmate, and more. I am too. We all are. And it's a lot to do. So I'm really going to try not to scream at my kids. But when I do, I will quickly acknowledge that I shouldn't have screamed and not spend the rest of the day beating myself up. Or at least I will try. I'm not making any promises.
On the up side, even with the struggle of Sundays, here are a few of the many the funnies from my ever growing trio. And the fact is, even this Sunday had its upside. We were at the Aquarium with a friend of mine and the kids have a blast. I love how much they love animals and fish and adventure.
1. Because they're not going to sleep at night, they come up with creative ways to while away the hours. The other night we walked in on them piled in one bed surrounded by empty shoe boxes they pulled out of the closet. We looked at them and asked, "What are you doing?" To which the baby promptly replied, "We're ordering stuff!" If you could have seen my husband's face, you would have realized with one look he ordered me to immediately cease and desist my online ordering past time.
2. While the little lady has been consistently growing in her independence (she gets up on the potty by herself, she puts her underwear, shoes and pants on, she hooks herself in the car seat), the boys have been slower. However, this weekend, the baby was all about doing things himself, particularly putting his pants and shoes on. I offered to help but he proudly announced, "I a big boy! I no need you anymore." Sigh, sorrow.
3. They really want to help. They make coffee (the eldest's favorite task), they ask for wipies and clean the floor, they've even learned to bring their dishes from the table and help unload the dishwasher. I can't believe that at 2 we're already able to do chores!
4. Potty training is almost over. The little lady is done. No accidents. Underwear all day. The boys are nearly there. Still a few accidents, but underwear. I know it's taken far longer than it should have, and we may sneak in a pull up or two for Disney in September, but it is such a relief (though also a challenge when they have to go if I'm solo, because we all three have to run to the bathroom, and like this week, sometimes we bring in our shopping cart).
5. The little lady has a great pink robe. She loves it. So does the eldest. He wore it around as his "cape." He said he was a superman. He also said he was something else hysterical but I've already forgotten what it was. I just remember laughing so hard I nearly cried.
6. We were watching a few minutes of Barney last night in an attempt to wind down (we're not big t.v. people), and Barney said, "You are special. Everyone is special in his or her own way." The baby looked at me and said, "I special?" You know, I spend so much time telling them I love them, but I don't spend a ton of time telling them WHAT I love about them. So I immediately responded with, "Yes - you are so special." And turned to each one and told them they were special. Then I put each one in my lap, and held each little face in my hands, and kissed their precious cheeks, and listed each of the special things about them. How funny and bright the baby is. How loving and curious the eldest is. How independent and charismatic the little lady is.
That made the whole weekend special for me. That is why this is all worth it. Even Sundays.
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