Friday 13 May 2011

to third, or not to third

I am utterly undecided about whether to have a 3rd or not. I feel like I need to just get it over and done with, because that is my dream, I want a "big" family, it's a worthwhile sacrifice because my two will get another sibling, etc. They get to grow up in a family of 3 kids. The weight of aging parents will be divided among 3 siblings, instead of two. Maybe I'll get a daughter.

But I don't want to be pregnant again. I don't want to give my body up for another 2 years. I don't want to have to go through nursing agony and baby-blues, and a c-section, and sleepless nights again. Baby food. Toilet training. Sleep training. Teething. Spit-up. Laundry. And that's all a walk in the park if I consider that I may be unlucky and have a colicky baby, or an unhealthy one, etc.

So which one is my heart? My hormones or my selfish desires? If I continue to wait, the desire will both increase and decrease, and the benefits to the kids will decrease, because the age difference increases.

And travelling with a family of 4 is easier (and cheaper) than travelling with a family of 5. Right?

bathtime?

So I used to give the kids a bath every day as part of their pre-bedtime ritual. And I used to think how gross it was that parents once upon a time would bathe their children once a week. Of course I understood that daily baths were unnecessary, but once a week? Yuck.

Well, nothing like becoming a parent to learn lessons in humility. We give our kids a bath once a week, very occasionally twice. We just don't have time otherwise. Sebastian is exhausted since starting school! And since I can't expect anything to really get done with regards to the kids until I get home, then dinner, stories, tooth-brushing and pyjamas all has to fit into between the 2 hours I have from getting home and putting the boys to sleep.

Yuck, right? Not really...

perpetual mother's day

So ever since last weekend, Sebastian has been wishing me Happy Mother's Day every day. What a brilliant child, I say! Of course mother's should be told "Happy Mother's Day" every day! And we mother's should learn to appreciate these special words every time they're expressed, instead of hope that only one day of the year we ought to be appreciated. In fact, I think I will ask Sebastian to give his father lessons in daily appreciation.

Hmmm....