FollowFour kids is plenty. Four kids is plenty. Four kids is plenty.
I keep saying this to myself.
Because I suddenly miss having a baby in the house.
Poopy diapers. Nighttime feedings. Diaper bags. Outlet covers. Gates. Highchairs. Choking hazards. Sippy cups.
Do I miss these things? No, I do not. Not one bit.
A tiny hand resting against my collarbone as its owner slumbers on my shoulder. Walking past the nursery that always smells like baby. Feet as wide and thick as they are long. Contented babbling from the crib in the morning. The spontaneous shriek that accompanies the first solo steps across the room.
Do I miss these things? Yes, I do. With all my heart.
Enough to augment this circus of a family? No way. Especially since one of us has been neutered.
The real issue is I don’t know how NOT to have a baby in the house.
Which can only mean one thing…
It’s time to paint the family room.
A new color.
Not a new baby, but that’s alright.
Four kids is plenty.
I scour the online yard sales on Facebook, “ISO a sofa in EUC.”
EUC. Excellent Used Condition. Just like my uterus after four kids.
OK, excellent is a stretch.
I find the perfect sofa. It’s white. It’s so white, in fact, that it glows.
B&B says One White Sofa + Four Boys = Bethany is Loco.
I must be a little loco. Because I miss having a baby in the house.
Unrelated or maybe very much related, we are now the proud owners of a white sofa in excellent used condition.
We begin painting, and I’m in love with the new color. It’s not a new baby, but it’ll do.
Four kids is plenty.
The winter storms hit one after another. There’s shoveling to be done. Board games to be played. Soup to be made. Arguments to settle. Snowmen to build. Tree limbs to collect. B&B started to paint the other day, but the icicles were so beautiful that he abandoned painting and ran out with his camera to capture their images.
Our new white sofa remains stain free after 12 consecutive days in a house with four boys.
Which is more loco than my wanting the sofa in the first place.
The family room isn’t completely painted yet.
I’m not bothered.
Because icicles happen.
Icicles Happen
I still miss having a baby in the house.
But I feel quite confident that…
four kids is plenty.
NO. NO more babies!! Four is definitely enough. If you’d like, I could act like a baby at Blog U and make you lose any and all desire you have to have another baby.
I think we are going to have Steph’s baby in our room! Even better!
You got a new sofa?! (I still miss a baby!!)
It looks fantastic! It will look even better when I get new window treatments. And if the painting is ever finished. The Interrogator loves it. “This is my favorite sofa, Mom. I really love it. It’s so…white.”
Also, I paid $40 on the FB yard sale. I mean, come on. For $40, I can bleach it every week.
Read this:
http://sarahbessey.com/learning-live-ache/
Your longing is real. My littlest is just 7 months and I keep saying I’d have ten more. But oh yea I went bat shit crazy on my boys the other day. Yea, shop is closed. But it doesn’t mean The Ache doesn’t linger:)
And yay for a white couch…BLEACH!
I can only think that will make us fabulous grandmothers, right?
I want more babies too! This inexplicably had me crying. Like ugly face crying while trying to be quiet so I don’t wake up Rick. I can’t wait for your book!
I think I’m so not in love with the tween situation that I’m wishing I could transfer my love from my 12 year old to a more accepting human being. Like a baby! I’m glad it got you! Thank you for reading! XO
I have four kids too, and I still want a bay in the house – BAD. But my youngest is 6, so I have to let it go…
Allie, I keep sneaking into my 5 year old’s room when he is asleep to smother him with kisses. It’s usually the time of night that I would have been up feeding and rocking a baby.
“I don’t know how not to have a baby.” I SO hear you. My youngest is four and I need someone to put in a stroller or a crib. I’m not sure how to transition to being the mom of big kids instead of babies and toddlers.
Exactly, Jessica! My youngest is 5 and supremely confident. Thinks he can do everything himself. Holding my hand is beneath him. I don’t know what to do with all of these limbs unencumbered. I don’t like it. It feels wrong.
Oh, I just love every single thing you write. I do. I’m proud to know you. (Kind of.) (Not ‘kind of’ like I’m ‘kind of’ proud to know you but that I really only know you ‘kind of’ but feel like I do fully.)
That’s all the mush (and confusion) I’ll spew at you for awhile, I promise.
xo
I feel the same way about you, my digital friend! XOXO
I have three and wish we had one more before the neutering. Especially since the two older children only spend half of their time with me.
But… We do need a new couch, and the living room definitely needs to be repainted…..
If you spend more than $40 on your new couch, you’re doing better than we are, Audra! Thanks for reading!
Hi,
I’m a mom of three boys, 10, 7 and 4. Just started to feel the need to read about other moms of boys and found your blog and it is fantastic!!! Thank you for your wonderful writing, it gave me a really good laugh and cry 🙂 Will certainly come back.
Thank you so much for reading, Lisa!!
Bethany—I am completely in the same boat. I KNOW four is plenty, but the ache is still there even though I know in my heart we are done with our last 1st birthday celebration.
Kelly, I refuse to accept that my baby is 5. I tell him that. “Stop growing. This is insane. You’re my baby. Stay 5. Stay awake. Don’t eat healthy foods.” Four is too many for me to handle. And still, I think, “Hmmm. I would have done another.”