Said NO mom ever with a brand new baby. It has felt exhausting to make sure everyone is fed, dressed, bathed, diapers changed (and yes.. I still have a twin toddler still in his diaper), and quality time with mom and dad. Before our 4th baby arrived, I already felt stretched thin with managing our 3-year old twins and 5-year old daughter, teaching fitness classes and exercising regularly, cleaning, groceries. laundry, dating my husband, reaching out to friends & family, growing my social media platforms, etc.
What I’ve learned in the last 7 weeks of being a mama to 4 kids is that there is NO real great way to balance everything. It’s an adjustment at first. And really, it’s all about making our new hectic life become our norm. We’ve been extremely blessed to have our 3 older kids play fairly well together. One tip I’d love to share is planning one on one time with the older kids. My husband and I realized that we don’t spend nearly any time with our kids individually. Having a set of twins has been the most rewarding (and crazy!) experience to see siblings interact who are on the exact same wavelength. But we’ve always had them together! Same womb, same crib, same stroller, same everything! This hasn’t been a problem, but when my husband and I decided to take my little boyfrand out on a date we realized how much we were missing. It was the first time he had ever been in the car without his sisters. And I don’t think he minded one bit. We didn’t need to divide our attention from him. We were able to giggle and laugh together. Chat about his favorite blue shark. See his silly quirks. It was therapeutic, to say the least! We loved it so much that we have our next date scheduled tomorrow morning. I’m realizing that I feel the joy of motherhood when I feel 100% satisfied where I am and not where I think I should be… if that makes sense. The work/life “balance” that we all strive for is tangible for me when I find peace in accepting what I can control and what I simply can’t. It’s learning to comfortably live between making an effort and offering to surrender. Accepting these things might offer a whole lot of grace towards yourself and that awful “mom guilt” that tends to surface in our weak moments. The key for me to keeping that balance is knowing when to kick back, shut down, and do absolutely nothing except to be who I am in this moment.
