It’s Not Easy Being Green

I get questions or comments a lot from people that sound like this:

How do you handle 5 kids?
I don’t know how you can be pregnant with so many other kids.
One kid is hard. How do you even do 3, let alone 5?
You’re pregnant with number 6?! I don’t even know how you deal with 5! (I am expecting number 6, due in October 🙂  )

They vary slightly in their wording but are essentially the same idea.

I’m never quite sure how to answer these. It’s kind of complicated. You could break it down into categories; how I handle meals, school, medical appointments, bedtime, laundry, etc… ad infinitum.

It basically boils down to: I just do.

But I also don’t.

I don’t always have it together. I don’t always “handle” it. I forget to schedule appointments, sign homework, give the principal a call back (I should really do that), and make sure everyone is bathed. We also eat frozen-store-bought casseroles loaded with bad carbs, and sometimes even popcorn and ice cream for dinner. I lose patience. My home is constantly in a state of either lived-in messy, or quickly-shove-everything-behind-closed-doors-so-company-can’t-see-it clean.

And that is what it looks like when I’m not pregnant and at the mercy of all these nauseating hormones. 

Succeeding in life, or “handling” things, even children, is about prioritizing. And often different seasons of life call for different priorities.

There are 3 things that I try to keep as a priority no matter what: that I express my love to each of my kids 1) first thing in the morning, 2) last thing at night, and 3) at least once during the day.

It doesn’t always happen. Nothing at home always happens. But the majority of the time it does. And majority matters.

I smile at them when I see them in the morning.
Last thing at night I speak pleasantly, give them a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and tell them I love them.
During the day, when they walk out the door I shout after them, “I love you!” even if they’re just heading into the backyard. (And lots of times they shout it back! *insert: heart melt*)

I have been successful at keeping this tradition up for the last 9+ years of parenting. I hope to keep it an “embarrassing” tradition in the teenage years, and until they no longer live in my home. (But I will still probably shout “I love you!” when they leave and they’re 50 years old.)

For now, I will keep hugging and kissing my stinky children, whom I forgot to have bathe, again, even if I have to hold my breath and make a mad dash for the bathroom afterward.

It’s not easy being green.