Moms of Many March 2008 thread

[baltic_ballet]

Welcome to March M.O.M's

[flapjack]

Here!

And slowly dying. I can't believe I put DD through the stress of dealing with a new sibling It's not going well...

[DreamsInDigital]

Being pregnant with 4 kids is HARD. Oh man. I wish I could just crawl into a dark cave and sleep until I'm in the 2nd trimester.

[EStraiton]

I guess I belong here... I have four girls and run a preschool .. yes I'm crazy.

[raleigh_mom]

Hi ladies! Thank you for this thread. I read it often to get ideas for our growing family. I thought I'd come out of lurking today to let you know I got my first "big family" comment - and I don't even have more kids yet!

Our family of four - two parents, two kids - currently live very comfortably using two of our three bedrooms. The third stands empty, ready for adoption. We were talking today with friends and made a comment about possibly adopting two or three children. They were shocked! How in the world could we fit more kids in our little house!

I have to admit we live in a smaller house, but we have a big back yard. Thankfully I've done enough research into larger families to be confident it can be done. Yes, we'll be snug, but that's fine with us.

[mataji4]

Eileen, I have four and run a Waldorf preschool out of my home as well. I have an assistant now as my baby was born over the summer and she helps lots with him, but next year I will have 8 kids alone again, which I'll enjoy. Yes, pregnant and sick is hard enough, but it gets harder every time as there's just less room to rest! I got pregnant last year in Sept and worked until 37 weeks so I was pregnant the whole school year. At least I had lots of distraction when I was feeling sick.

I enjoyed your website- you are very well organized! Spring is such a fun time with my preschool kids- and we are getting new baby chicks this week!

Take care.

[orangefoot]

Our house is in a messy cycle this week and two friends have remarked on it this week which has ticked me off a bit. Well a big bit actually.

I have a 5yo at home doing all the things she wouldn't be able to do at school and a very busy 18mo who can move mountains in a morning. I run the office side of our business fro home and I cook from scratch every day for 6 people. Give me a break if my dishes aren't done and my floor is sticky in places: And they were happy to eat my cakes the preparation of which had added to the kitchen untidyness. Oh well.

There is a county-wide swap shop event tomorrow and we have already got 2 bags of all sorts in the car to take there. The only problem is that we will have to resist the temptation to bring things home with us unless it is storage related or immediately useful. Prettty poor criteria eh?

In better news, Frida is 18mo and this week has used the potty all by herself to do poo in, even if she has had to get us to take her out of her highchair from the dinner table to do it! She has even gone to the potty herself to do a wee a couple of times a day! Independent pottying after 18months of EC is a joy to behold I can tell you. Long may it last

raleigh_mom - we are six in a 2 bedroom house of modern English proportions totalling under 400sq ft. Our neighbours are still wondering how we do it

[Anglyn]

orangefoot: I have this issue. My solution? I've quit inviting my family over! yes, its my family, not my friends who tick me off about my house. And no matter how much I clean before she comes, my mom WILL find the three baskets of clean but not yet put away laundry or the chocolate milk I didnt even realized was spilt or...or... and geez, when I see peoples spotless houses who have kids...I always wonder what thier kids DO all day since they dont seem have any toys or books or puzzles out.....

The one time I left my mom with my kids, she vowed my house would be clean when I got back...HA, the house was the same and she dropped into a chair in exhaustion and exclaimed "Thank God youre back!"

It's already decided that ds3 will have his first bday as just us and that dd will have hers at Mcdonals and that easter will be a private family event. My mother always manages to guilt me into doing all the work for all the family holidays. Im not doing it this year. If she wants all her grandkids togather for easter, she can plan it andhave it at her home. Last year my ten year old dn with adhd literally walked ON adn OVER all the little kids, knocked them all down and took nearly every egg and piece of candy there was.

My mother suggested that we combine said dn's bday party and ds3' since they are both in april. Um, no. Then she said how expensive bdays were getting and I said one party or two, its still two gifts, not to mention every year I tell her we dont NEED gifts, they have plenty. It does tick me off, like my kids shouldnt have a party cuz there are "so" many. You know, to me, its a celebration of them. Im fine if we just get togather and eat cake. They will get a gift, even if its something little, from dh and I and thats enough. Im not going to plan how many kids I have based on how many partys my mom thinks is enough in a years time.

I have really stopped caring what other people think, for the most part, its easier with strangers, and its so FREEING! HA! Some mom made snarky comment about what I was letting my son do at Mcdonalds the other day and I almost laughed in her face cuz it was so ridiculous. There was a time though whenI would have second guessed myself thinking maybe I was a bad mom. Like Im gonna be judged by a twenty year old with one kid who spend the entire time on her cell phone rather than with her child. Whatever.

[orangefoot]

We don't have a problem with family so much as my ILs give us a million months notice of gracing us with their prescence so we have plenty of time to get straight. They weren't very impressed by our wood covered bathroom window when they visited last though and are still worried (nagging) about when we will get a new window put in.......

My mum knows how we are and accepts that she may have to move laundry to sit on the sofa. these 2 friends have forgotten how it is to have little people at home ALL DAY but one is about to be reminded as she is due with no4 in 6 weeks

We got a square coffee table from the swap shop which I would have been happy to leave there but ds1 convinced me that we could use intead of using the top of the toybox. It even came with corner protectors screwed on it. Thank goodness for the large-family-sized car

Once we had got it in the house we had a good clear out the toybox and found other places to put the small toys. the bigger things fit under the table! The toybox is now in our bedroom filled with my fabric bits and bobs which have been in bags and cupboards and drawers so there was room to relocate the dollies from the toybox and some other stuff too. Great. Even dh was impressed.

20 year olds with one child giving parenting advice HA HA.

[AngieB]

I've missed a few months so I subing know before I forget.

[starbound25]

subbing, I'm a family of 5 right now ( 3 kids 2 adults) and we hope to get pregnant this summer (jump for joy)
hoping to get lots out of this thread!

[midwestmom]

subbing.....I am sick (again-ugh) and my 4 kids ages 4 and under are exhausting me today. Help me make it through.

[annettemarie]

I keep losing you ladies. But HAH! Found you again!

[orangefoot]

Originally Posted by midwestmom

subbing.....I am sick (again-ugh) and my 4 kids ages 4 and under are exhausting me today. Help me make it through.

You mamas with lots of little people leave me feeling like I don't have it too bad! Are you able to do anything to revive your immune system? Make sure you don't forget to eat good things and keep your fluids up. If I could have them over here for the afternoon for you I would, sickness and lots of little people is no good for getting better.

[midwestmom]

Originally Posted by orangefoot

You mamas with lots of little people leave me feeling like I don't have it too bad! Are you able to do anything to revive your immune system? Make sure you don't forget to eat good things and keep your fluids up. If I could have them over here for the afternoon for you I would, sickness and lots of little people is no good for getting better.

thanks mama! I am feeling better today.

Today we were in the post office for 5 min and I got THREE "your hands sure are full" comments. I am gonna wear a shirt from now on that says-"Yep, my hands sure are full"

[phathui5]

We're doing well here. Had ds1's homeschool portfolio review today. We more than met the requirements, but the lady kept saying that there were supposed to be grades and comments in his books. I have no desire to do that. We just have him go back and fix things if they're wrong. Otherwise it was good, so if the followup letter lists that as an issue, I'm going to give the homeschooling office a call and explain that their reviewer was asking for more than was required.

[2much2luv]

I'm going to sub on here. I've got four little ones at home and it sure feels like I belong here most days.

[crittersmom]

Originally Posted by midwestmom

thanks mama! I am feeling better today.

Today we were in the post office for 5 min and I got THREE "your hands sure are full" comments. I am gonna wear a shirt from now on that says-"Yep, my hands sure are full"

I got that your hands are full comment 3 times yesterday too.The last time I had two sleeping in the stroller and was wearing the baby while watching my oldest play at the playground.I waved my hands and said nope my hands are free right now.
My 3 year old keeps escaping and runnning off.The other day he ran all the way to my neighbors.I am trying to remember what I did since he hasn't done this since he was 13 months to 2.Freeze sometimes works, redlight he doesn't even hear.My oldest has a T ball tournament this weekend.Thats a day of 3 games, plenty of times for the 3 year old to escape.DH may have to work so I am really scared about how thats gonna be.I get so envious of mamas who have family close by when things like this come up.

[DoomaYula]

I always get the "hands full" comment when I have dd2 in the sling and then I say, Actually my hands are free right now. Ha. My attempt at humor

Today I was nervous that I'm pregnant again. I even took a test. I'm nursing round the clock and have an IUD but I've been feeling really ill lately and have been avoiding chocolate, which is a sure sign for me. But it was a bfn. I'm relieved. Having 4 kids ages 5yo and under can be very emotionally draining.

re: comments on your house - my house is never all clean at once. There are certain areas that are clean on certain days. Saturdays are bathrooms. Sundays I change everyone's sheets. Monday I mop the downstairs. Tuesday I catch up on laundry (along with all weekend). I would also like to schedule in vacuuming on Wednesdays but it didn't happen this week.

[phathui5]

I got asked twice today at the farmer's market if "those are all your kids?"