*sigh*

Hey! Guess what? Toddler Triplets are 3 BILLION times more difficult than Newborn Triplets, Baby Triplets, Crawler Triplets and anything and everything in between.

Add to that a very intelligent 5 year old and a very precarious 3 year old. Oh, AND throw in a tween and 3 teens.

What does that make the Mommy? A big, giant, mess. Sometimes a good mess or a funny mess, but more often than not, just a plain 'ol Mommy-Mess. You know, the one that went from SWEARING to herself her entire childhood to never, ever, EVER call your child by ALL your childrens' names combined. You know what I'm talking about. This one: ' Annie. I mean, Mad, I mean Lillll....CRAP,*sigh* Gwendolen, can you please come here'. My mom used to do that. We would just sit and wait to see who she actually needed until she finally sighed, shrugged her shoulders and calmly said the intended childs' name. Used to drive me NUTS. I didn't understand WHY on earth she couldn't remember 4 simple names. I swore I would never do that to my children and I would look at them and know who I was asking for BEFORE saying anything aloud.

HA. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. HA.

I apologize Mom. Profusely. For thinking you should not have given us all names with "L" in them and you would actually be able to say each name separately. For wondering how you could possibly so stressed out that you would forget my name. I.am.sorry.

What did this 'super-smart-learn-from-others'-mistakes' Mommy do?

I had 9 children. Nine. and Triplets. Hm. I would say that I am a candidate for a little stress. What else did I do? I made sure that every one of my girls has an "L" in her name. And it didn't get intentional until we starting trying to name the triplets. We never even realized that we did it. Just like my mom. Just as I swore I would never do.


Anyhow. (Not sure how I got from Mommy-mess to talking about "L" names, so......:)

I am, most days, a mess. I shower immediately upon waking up. If I go downstairs without showering, I can just kiss that shower goodbye. Won't happen, and I am GRUMPY without my shower. And that, is my one super accomplishment for the entire day. I am amazingly grateful for my (One-year old TODAY!) dreadlocks. That means, that 3-4 days of my week, my showers are QUICK since I only wash my hair every other day. The babies thank me for that. They do not like being locked in the bedroom/bathroom first thing in the morning, even though I do have a toy box and a box of books in my room to keep all 5 of the littles occupied.

Breakfast making is the equivalent of running a marathon. With rabid monkeys. Everyone is starving (which makes total sense for the triplet rabid monkeys that nurse all night still) So in between the babies crying to get in their 'seats' and the little girls asking what we have and me trying to keep all 5 of them happy enough to not start the tantrums at 9am, breakfast does somehow get made. All this wouldn't be so bad if the babies didn't want only scrambled eggs for breakfast. With berries.

Tonight. I started making the eggs AT NIGHT and sticking them in the fridge. Did you know that if you put them in a ziploc bag while still warm, they stay moist and taste just as yummy, if not yumm-ier than fresh made. For real. The biggest bonus? They clump together more, making it easier for the babies to eat them.

Sometimes the toddlers have eggs, sometimes cereal. They are the easy ones.

Then the rest of the morning is all a blur. After vacuuming that is. I'm a bit OCD about the house. I vacuum every day. Dog. Cat. 9 kids. Need I say more?

We play. We color. We read books. Snack. Alot of snacking. And sippy cups. Lots of diaper changes.

Then the wonderful 2 hour nap. Ah. This is when my brain attempts to tidy up the mess. It usually works. I(very quickly) pick up toys. This is usually where my first meal of the day comes in. Yay! And this is when I get to spend time with the little girls and sometimes the older kids. (But now, since it's summer break, ALOT more time with the older kids. I hope.)

After nap again, is a bit of a blur. We manage to go for a walk, play, snack, diaper change and fix dinner in a mere 2 hours. The evening goes much faster than the morning. I'm not sure why. Probably because that is when Aaron gets home to help. And yes, I watch the clock and the driveway ridiculously so.

Poor Aaron walks in the door to crying babies, fighting toddlers, dinner half cooked and a wife who was trying really hard to wear her white capris because she knows her husband likes them only they are covered in chocolate fingerprints, oatmeal chucks, and dirt from the playground, and he doesn't turn around and walk back out. I love him for that. I sure as heck would take a walk or 25 around the neighborhood if I had to come home to that every night. I can't decide if I am so used to it that I'm completely immune, or if it truly doesn't bother me and it just feels like it should.


Something to think about.

*sigh* Nighttime. *sigh*.

Don't get wrong, I love all 9 of my littles, but there is something just so calming and relaxing and AMAZING sitting downstairs, knitting, knowing that all my little loves are sleeping soundly upstairs. I guess it also helps too that it is another little 'Repair the Mommy-mess break'. And a 'visit with the husband time' and a 'make an entire sheet of brownies and eat half of it yourself with some vanilla ice cream' kinda time too. :)

My point, (I know, after 300 pages) is, that all-in-all, even after the really trying days, the grumpier than usual days and the crying all day long days, is that it's all so worth it. So, so, so, so worth it.

Even the Mommy-mess is worth it. Pretty sure the kids won't remember the fact that I never wear make-up. Or that I live in pants that have no zipper. Jeans are saved for a special occasion in my world.

So, that explains my life as I now know it. Pretty awesome huh?

(To be honest, I'm pretty dang proud that I held out on the combining all my childrens' names together for way more than 4 kids. I only recently started doing it. Yep. Proud of that. )