On Four

A friend asked me the other day what I gave up for Lent.  "My sanity." was my response.  To that she replied something like: "You gave that up a year ago!"

No one's arguing with her there. A week without 1/2 of my Fab Four has let me step back enough to see how hard four under four was initially.  And four under five eventually.

Things that were tricky:
1. We really never got good at getting in and out of the car gracefully (gracefully = me not nagging) or quickly.
2. There is no denying the fact that corners, many corners, were cut over the year. I killed trees from using paper plates, made PBJ for dinner at least twice a week, relied heavily on carrots with ranch as our vegetable of the day, and actually, God forbid, let kids skip brushing teeth from time to time.
3. I'm pretty sure I never sat through an entire meal, even cereal, without getting up at least 5 times.
4. Sometimes, I had to pick which screaming child got the attention first.  I know the sound of each kid's cry for help, pain, attention, and frustration. Pain wins first, attention second.
5.  The laundry situation was OUT OF CONTROL. Not just the washing/drying, but the keeping growing kids in clothing that fits and sorting out the stuff that doesn't.  It was never ending.
6.  I am not sure a day went by that I felt like I really met everyone's needs on the first try.  Someone was bound to hear "in a minute". Someone was bound to have to remind me that I said I would do something "in a minute." Someone was bound to have to wait to be held.  Sometimes for longer than I'd like to admit.
7. There is a reason that God does not allow for four kids to span just 29 months without science involved most of the time. In April 2011, no one wiped their own bottom or put on their own shoes.  Or cleared their spot or buckled their carseat.  By Christmas, two kids had all those things mastered. By March, three kids could do it. While life got easier in that regard, all four ultimately learning to talk and wanting to be heard became the challenge.

But there were so many things that were wonderful, that I would take back in an instant with one fast phone call (are you listening CPS and LSSS??), that cannot be separated into a list.  It was the gradual forming of our family and the friendships within it. The idea that 11 months ago, it was two against two with a grown up trying to make things mesh together.  It was the watching one kid grab another's hand crossing the street, bring someone a toy, just do anything nice for someone else really. It was watching the babies become best friends.  It was the pointed effort it took to ensure that the big girls got their mommy dates and that everyone got one on one time daily.  It was always having a kid to hold, to show something cool, and to make me laugh.

It was chaotic. It was tiresome. It was crazy. Yes, all of those things. But it was fun. It was entertaining. It was rewarding. It was a year I'd willingly repeat over and over and over.