I know lately I’ve been posting on the light topics but ultimately it’s my goal to share real life! Whether it’s wins, loses, me falling on my face in the parking lot (because that has totally happened). I want to create a transparent community that all mamas feel comfy opening up in! Today, we are going a little deeper.  A little more in my feels! Maybe I am just emotional from the stress of the terrible two’s and the even more terrible three’s? But I’m kind of offended. Legit, I’ve got a chafed rear end over this and it’s been brewing for a while!

A lot of mamas frequent this blog so I’m hoping I will be in like-company! It all boils down to this, having three kids, I might as well have twenty.  So many days it feels like they multiply.  Or maybe they are actually of the same bread as the Gremlins from that 1984 film and they do really multiply when they get wet. I’m not exactly positive at this point! Either way, the times are trying and momming multiple toddlers is not for the faint of heart. We all do our very best. And I really believe all it would take to turn a rough day into a survivable one is a little support!

I get it, sticks and stone.. words will never… well, there are some words that have been festering within. I’m writing this as a favor. A favor to the person who doesn’t even know they are about to completely offend the mom of three toddler boys! The stranger at the grocery who thinks they are making a funny with my family structure as the butt of the joke. The poor soul who has no idea of the foot that I am personally going to place inside their mouth if they come at me with one more of these comments.  I will go ahead and give you a big ole YOU’RE WELCOME! Here ya go.. the things you should NOT say to the mom with multiple kids hanging on her legs!

1 | ARE YOU DONE YET?

As in, am I done bringing little humans into the world?!

I found out I was pregnant with Knight the day before my pinning ceremony in nursing school.  I was 22 and unmarried.  It was 100% not the right time if I was writing the book. But hands to heaven, I’m not the author of this story! That baby boy saved me and Daniel in ways we can’t even wrap our minds around.

Banks was and still is our wild child.  He teaches me patience, will power, and endurance in his solid 3 year old ways.  He has broken me in ways that I needed to be broken to better understand not just children but adults who think differently than I do.

And oh my sweet Emmitt. I cried so hard when I found out I was pregnant with that boy.  And they were not tears of joy.  They were tears of fear and terror! I did not know how I could do it. I seriously thought having three babies was going to kill me, literally! Because of Emmitt, I know I can. I know that I am so much stronger than I ever imagined!

So here’s the thing Linda. I will be done when I say I’m done. Each and every one of my children are gifts and if God is willing to bless me with even one more that I am lucky enough to have call me mama, I will praise Him! Okay?!

2 | DON’T YOU KNOW WHAT CAUSES THAT?

Well, actually I do have my bachelors degree in Nursing. Believe it or not, achieving that did require more than my fair share of course that touched on the topic of fertility, sex education, child birth, and all the things! But if you really want to chat about my sex life that cool.  Quite frankly, I prefer to keep that between myself and my husband. So if ya don’t mind, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS and limit your comments to how cute my kids are!

3 | BEEN THERE DONE THAT!

Oh have you?! I’m fully aware that I am not the first to blaze this trail. There are so many mamas out there who have multiple kiddos close in  age but can we please get a little compassion over competition… is that a thing?! Maybe you have walked in these, totally worn down, shoes of mine. And that’s even better if you have! Maybe a little gold nugget of advice would be helpful and appreciated.  Acting like this momming thing is no big deal when I’m over here sweating bullets… is not helpful sister!

4 | YOU LOOK TIRED!

Wow.  DING DING DING you are a winner!! But did you hear the ages of my kids? Of course I’m tired.  I am exhausted.  Literally a walking zombie. My house does not sleep. It’s a constant game of musical beds from the hours of 10 pm-4 am. And then guess what. My alarm rings bright and early at 5 am so that I can get ahead of the day so I don’t get run over!! But thank you so much for noticing the dark circles under my eyes! That is a wonderful compliment!

5| YOU’VE GOT YOUR HANDS FULL!

Okay so I’m going to go a little light on whoever throws this one out at me.  Because it is an extremely accurate observation. BUT what would be more helpful then stating the obvious, would be to offer some help!!

Here’s a true story, Emmitt was about 5 weeks old. Me + 3 were visiting Daniel while he was working out of town and I had the bright idea to go to Walmart.  My very first outing with all three boys by myself and we weren’t even in a familiar place. I’m still not quite sure what I was thinking!! But I did it.  When we got there I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to have all the kids in the shopping cart plus have room for the groceries, so we had two carts.  One mama, three babes, TWO carts? Yeah, it was a total disaster!

Low and behold Emmitt decided it was the perfect time for a bottle right in the middle of this shopping extravaganza. I will never forget that moment.  The thought of what in Holy Heaven have I gotten myself into hit me right there at the Walmart between the 2% milk and yogurt. So here I am pushing one cart with my forearm, holding a bottle feeding my 5 week old infant as he was sitting in his carrier with that same hand and pulling the second cart with my 2 year old and 3 year old. What a sight that must have been.

When I tell you 7, that’s right SEVEN people came out of their way to tell me how full my hands were and not a single one offered any help. I’ll pause here and just say, I wasn’t expecting help. I’d prefer strangers not really interact with my kiddos like that but walking up and stopping me in the midst of my madness to tell me my hands were full…. Just not the time, friend!

Oh and I can’t leave out the best part.  We made it to check out and my debit card was most definitely in the car. I’ll be honest I was so frazzled at that point the thought of leaving my kids with the cashier while I ran to get the card did cross my mind. No worries, I came to my senses and hauled them with me. But that was the perfect ending to the most stressful Walmart visit of my life!

Am I alone in this?  I’d love to hear from ya! If you’re a mama reading this and your fist pumping, hollering AMEN let me hear it sister! I could probably share several other’s but I think I will leave these right here and step down off my soap box! But that doesn’t mean you have to leave, friend! Stay a while and check out some other posts- like this awesome creamy chicken recipe or how about the 5 steps to a stress free morning.

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