Lots of Kids, and livin to tell about it!

You know what gets OLD? When moms who have a kid or two, normally total strangers, point out that I have my hands full, as they mentally count my children. This is usually followed by a condescending head cock, and a comment like, "I don't know how you do it! Little Destiny here keeps me soooooo busy! Between her dance, gymnastics, soccer, girls scouts, child yoga, and chess lessons, we barely have time for her 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of math facts, stretching, and nightly grooming routine. "

Uhmmmmm, well let me think, it is partly multi-tasking, and partly learning what you can't live without, and doing that....

When the other mom gives me the half-smile with the furrowed eyebrows and asks an even nosier question, "triplets, OOOO--does that run in your family?" Once I relay that no, it was indeed IVF that resulted in our triplets, I get the "We could never do that! I think that I would have just adopted!--- Do you watch Kate Plus 8? I would never have wanted to end up like her!"

I don't think of myself as Kate, notice the lack of film crew, and just trying to be on my way now.... "And then you went and had ANOTHER one!" giggles... "don't you and your husband know what causes that?" (super clever, now as well as condescending, and nosy)

I fight the temptation to tell her that if she had another kid or two, she might not have the time to be such a pain in the a$$

"My sister's best friend has twins. It is soooo hard on her--she was smart and has a nanny even though she stays home full-time. Plus her Mom comes over every Thursday night for date night, I think she lived with them for the first year..."

Must be nice... but no I am on my own most of the time. There are very few date nights, most of the time we trade off doing stuff so one of us is home with the kids. Sometimes when we are really indulgent, we trade babysitting with one of the neighbors. It is not a weekly thing, there is no nanny, and no danger that either set of parents want anything to do with living in our house.

First Day of school this morning. I took all the cute pictures, made sure they each had lunches or money, and did all the good mom stuff. What I did NOT do, was stand in line with tears in my eyes, so sad that my babies were growing up. That's what it is all about. They are growing and changing every day. I am happy to see them enjoying new things, and spending a little time out of the house!

Being a mom of 5 really is managing chaos. I love my kids EVERY bit as much as the dolt asking the dumb questions, I just don't have time to waste bothering strangers and dwelling on the negatives. What I do have is a lifetime of opportunity to enjoy fun family holidays, build memories, and watching my kids enjoy each other knowing they will always have someone there who has their backs.