What Life is Like with Three Kids

Three kids. I have THREE tiny humans that call me “Mama,” and depend on me for E V E R Y T H I N G. This is still especially crazy to me since I didn’t want children growing up. I mean, the thought of them were nice, but I was too selfish, and didn’t know the first thing about kids. (Spoiler alert: I still feel like I don’t know the first thing about them.) My husband, on the other hand, always wanted three from the very beginning. Three girls, to be exact.

So here I am with three of them; three kids under five years old.

People have asked me a lot recently what it’s like with three kids, and what was the hardest stage—going from one kids to two of them, or from two little ones to three. Well, in my case, it was going from zero to one.

That first baby—that first year—was probably the hardest year of my life. After that, with baby number two, and now with baby number three, I really feel like the transition’s been a lot easier and more manageable.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still really hard with three kids. Life is busy—and we aren’t even in the busy stage of life yet. It’s busy in a sense that your mind is constantly on call. I’m never not thinking of them, or looking over them, or looking for them, or talking to them, or listening to them, or asking how one of them is doing. It’s constant noise and constant stimulation—so much more than you ever thought possible.

Actually, let’s be honest: it’s chaos. Sometimes it’s controlled chaos, and other times it’s letting them win the battle as you sit back and watch and listen to the chaos ensue.

And don’t even get me started during the times that I solo parent, because…whew…life gets CRAZY hard then.

What I’ve loved about having more kids, though, is that they help me and each other. My oldest truly loved changing the middle kid’s diaper when she was a baby. And as long as it wasn’t a poop, we’d let her. My middle child now is such a big helper, and plays with the baby. My oldest can pick up the baby and move him, or get him food, or take objects out of his mouth.

They’re helpful, which makes life a whole lot easier.

Plus, they play with each other. I feel like this is an anomaly sometimes, but they really do play together more than they fight with each other. The girls—from the beginning—have been really close, and I have a feeling their brother, as he gets older, will fit right in.

Our baby factory is closed, but I fully believe if we had more kids, it would only get easier, because with each new baby, another kid is older and more helpful.

Is life awesome all the time? Heck no. We yell and fight, and cry, and scream. There are time-outs (for the kids and grown ups), and some days I dream of them all being in school. But my husband and I have worked hard to discipline, make rules, and schedules to maintain and set some (hopefully) good foundations for our little ones.

Does this mean they won’t grow up to be crazy? Who knows. What I do know now is that three kids is working for us, and I’m loving it.

If you have multiple kids, which was the hardest jump for you?

*Photos courtesy of the fabulous Chrissy Walther Photography