Summer has Begun!

Which set of children looks harder to parent?

Today is our official first day of summer.  Basically, I am going from having two children all day to five children all day.  Which do you think is easier for me?  Surprisingly, having all the children home is easier.  For one thing, there is no way I'd be able to sit at my computer with little interruption if I only had the youngest two home.  Did I tell the older kids to watch the younger kids so I could fool around on the internet?  No.  They naturally want to play with each other and look out for one another.  If a child needed me, I would of course stop and take care of their needs.  For now, I am enjoying this moment of alone time and writing this post.

Having a toddler and older children naturally makes me think about the toddler years of my older children.  The more I look back on my memories, the more I realized that life was harder with less children than it is with more.  My house was messier and it took me longer to keep it from being a complete wreck.  There was more fighting and less sharing.  I was constantly putting someone in time-out.  Basically, life was more stressful and hectic in general.

I was "done" having children after my first two.  I had my boy and my girl, plus nauseous pregnancies with both, so why bother having another?  They were close together (17 1/2 months to be exact), so life was busy the first couple years.  Then when my second was about 2 years old, I had a change of heart.  (I say "I" because my husband had always wanted three.)  I am so grateful I listened to my heart, and had another child.  It has been to best parenting decision we have ever made.  As you can tell, we did not stop there, and we went on to have two more after that.

While my husband and I are not "trying" to have any more right now, I will never be "done" again.  What's the difference between "not trying" and "being done"?  One always leaves the option open and one completely closes the door.  We are constantly changing as human beings, and I can only speak for the 36 yr-old me and not the 40 year-old me.  Who knows how I'll feel in the future?  Last I checked there is no crystal ball that can tell me, so for now, I will try to follow my heart and see where it leads.

Is my house loud?  Yes.  Is it busy?  Yes.  Am I saying everyone is meant to have a large family?  No.  All I'm saying is for my family two was the hardest number.  If you are on the fence on whether to have another child, go for it.  I have never heard anyone with grown children say they wish they didn't have that last child.  I have only heard them say they wished they had another.  If you do "go for it", be careful because the floodgates might open like they did in my house!  ;)

Moments like this are the best part of a new baby in the house.