It's Twin Tuesday!

As I've been watching the kids lately, it's made me do a lot of thinking.  I mainly think about how different life is now compared to when they were babies.  People ask me all the time, "Is it getting easier?" My reply is always the same: "Not really easier, but just a different hard."  That probably sounds silly to most people, but it's the best way to explain our crazy life.  Hard is trying to simultaneously bottle feed two babies who can't sit up.  Hard is traveling alone with a toddler who needs to go potty, while also having to haul two infant carriers into the stall because you can't leave them in the car.  Hard is going through 2,400 diapers in six months.  Hard is paying for all those diapers and bottles.

Having gone from one child to three, I often stop to wonder what is really most overwhelming to me---having two kids the same age, or just having three kids, period.  Is everyone who has three kids this tired, or this busy or this stressed out?  Or am I just a wimp?  I used to have a clean house, we never left dirty dishes in the sink and always had time to watch TV at night.  Now, I'm lucky to even sit down between coming home from work and falling into bed way too late.  I'd be embarrassed for any guests to come over and see my messy house, if I wasn't too tired to care.  Any free time I have is spent playing outside, taking the kids for walks and reading lots of board books.  Is it easier?  No, it's just different.

Really, I'm different.  I know the short few hours I spend with the kids at night are so special.  I know that, even when they are being brats, they love me and they sure don't care if the dishes are washed.  And I'm OK with that.  The people in my office totally know what's up when I wear a dress three days in a row because that's all the clean clothes I have.  I know that there is sometimes work that I need to bring home from the office; but I also know that sometimes I just need to leave work at work and focus on being mommy at home.  At the end of the day, the diaper changing, butt wiping and breaking up fights is my number-one job.  It may not pay me with money, but I have a bank full of love.

Oh, and I'm glad that Lee hasn't gotten his fill of crazy and headed for the hills. Not yet, anyway.