When I had one child, I thought two would be too hard to handle.
When I had two children, I thought that three would be hard to handle.
Until I got pregnant with my third.
I found out that I was pregnant again, and I said, “Okay, here we go,” and just accepted it.
I just started preparing.
Having done two children for three years, I had a good idea of what it would take to have a third.
When my second child was born, my oldest went through a jealousy stage.
He was visibly upset that I was paying more attention to his baby sister than to him. He wasn’t number one anymore.
In my third trimester with my second son, I started to think about that.
Would my 3 year old daughter be jealous of her baby brother?
Not wanting them to feel left out, I decided to buy them big brother and big sister presents.
My newborn son is almost a month old now and I haven’t experienced my older two being jealous yet.
For that, I am relieved!
Everything went smoothly so far, transitioning from two to three, and I think the gifts helped!
Him being so stinkin’ cute helped too! They love their little brother.
Getting Things Together
Now, I am not the most organized person. Listening to another mom who had 16 children, I heard her say that she knew she had to start getting organized after the fourth.
I am seeing now that I need to really get things together.
I know I just gave birth, but I do not want to add another child to the mix without getting things in order around here first!
Being that my newborn is still so young, he doesn’t do much but eat, sleep and poop, so I do have some time to get things organized a little better before he gets to the sitting up, then crawling, then walking stages.
That’s when things could get really out of hand.
Getting Myself Organized
I’ve started researching organization ideas, tips and tricks to get the clothes and laundry, the books and toys, and the kitchen in order before I have to worry about another toddler running around. I just want to be more put together as a mom, in general.
Also being a blogger and working from home, I could benefit from a good schedule!
I need a schedule not only for my business, but also a routine for the kids.
My oldest will be starting first grade in less than a month, so he will be out of the house for most of the day. I will need to fit his school schedule into everything me and the two younger kids are doing as well.
So what steps am I taking to adjust to having three children instead of two?
As I mentioned, number one is to start getting more organized!
Now is as good a time as ever to get my house in order. I want to do room by room and have already started looking up ideas on YouTube and Pinterest.
I will need to declutter each room (getting rid of things that don’t fit, that we don’t need and don’t use), then putting the things that we’re keeping back away neatly. I’m finding some great, cheap storage ideas!
Getting myself organized has prompted me to start to teach my six year old better too.
He has always been my helper. He doesn’t complain when I ask him to help me out, but I decided that a chore chart system would help him out.
I set up a chore reward system for him. He gets a prize at the end of the week when he completes all of his assigned tasks. My three year old doesn’t have those responsibilities yet, but I am teaching her to pick up her toys, throw things away and put her laundry in her hamper.
Making a Schedule
In tandem with getting organized is getting a schedule together.
Now, I may not stick to anything strict that says, “Okay, such and such needs to be done at this thirty minute time slot every day.” I’m not sure I’d stick to a rigid schedule with select time slots.
I will make a schedule that has time slots to give me good structure and follow it according to how my day is going. I have started to make a list every night that of the things I need to get done the next day.
I utilized lists like that in the past, but sort of fell off. No matter what, I need to do my best to get the things in that list accomplished!
With my husband’s schedule of work, my blogging schedule, my kid’s separate schedules and all of the appointments and errands that need to be taken care of, there needs to be a balance.
Making family time where we all come together is important for balance. Meal times where we all sit together and eat are important. Movie nights, maybe on weekends are important for relaxation and just to enjoy each other.
Even bath time and bed time at night is important! That’s actually one of my most favorite times of the day! Simply because it gets the kids in order, relaxed and ready to settle down, giving me space to regroup and have my own quiet time.
Focusing On My Self Care
Which brings me to say, I have learned the hard way that I need to make sure that I am having self care time as well! If I don’t take care of me, I will be no good for my babies.
I know I need to start doing things for myself like facials, rub lotion on my feet, listen to relaxing music and taking a 10 minute Epsom salt bath here and there. Whatever it takes to keep me sane and healthy. Oh, and I don’t forget to take my vitamins!
Aside from all of that, two more things I haven’t mentioned yet are very important.
Prioritizing My Faith and My Marriage
On my list of goals are to to deepen my faith and to improve my marriage. So I know I spoke of scheduling and organization first, but prayer comes before all of that!
I want to make sure I am spending time every day reflecting on my goals and what I have accomplished, as well as praying and acknowledging my creator gives me a good foundation.
Being spiritually prepared for the every day tasks at hand is important for me and for my family.
My marriage is the last thing I will touch on, but certainly not the least important.
Taking the time to communicate with my husband and touch bases with him every day. With everything going on, our relationship can easily go on the back burner, but we can’t let that happen.
If we weren’t together, we wouldn’t have the kids, we wouldn’t have the family, and we wouldn’t have the business ventures we have together.
So how important does that make our relationship? Pretty vital! To keep it healthy we must nurture our relationship.
All in all, adding baby number three to the household is a huge blessing.
Yes, he takes up more of my time and energy, but I am overjoyed to have him. Things are going well, but I know I need to step my game up as a mama and to have that perspective, I am grateful.
Over to you – how have you adjusted to three kids in your home? I’d love to hear them!
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