Four children. I used to yell no different to my parents. “Mom”, when I grow up, I also want four children. "Yeah," Mom said. "Let's see how it goes girl." When I ran into Frank, I was still yelling. "I want four children." He was shocked!
I was like a ticking time bomb. My biological clock was rattling long before Frank realized that he also had an alarm clock in him that could make some noise. When he "finally" got to the point where he could think about children, he still thought very differently than I did. Four children? That never! One, he would like that.
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Funny how that happens. I wanted four children because I myself come from a family of four. Lots of fun on birthdays I always thought. However, I have never experienced it at home with four children. I am an afterthought and my youngest brother is more than 10 years older than me. I haven't really seen my sister and eldest brother at home. By the time I was aware of it, they had already left the house for study. But that still stuck 'four children is fun'.
Frank, on the other hand, is an only child. And he always thought that was fine. Lots of boyfriends and girlfriends over the floor, often staying overnight. He had no idea of being "alone" at all. So his interpretation of a family was very different from mine. And he really didn't want to think about it, four children.
I was already happy that his alarm clock finally started ticking so I didn't talk about anything anymore. First let's see if we were allowed to get pregnant at all. Fortunately that was no problem. I was pregnant in no time, so quickly that I was told afterwards in the hospital - just after the birth - that the nurses there thought I had not calculated correctly. Why? Our little man was born at 33 weeks gestation but was still over 5lbs. They didn't see that often.
Read also: 33 weeks pregnant and then you came
The first months were obviously exciting. That's always the case with a first baby I think and Luc's premature birth with all the accompanying issues added to that. But we were overjoyed. And my idea of a large family was far from gone. I still had such an ideal image.
Completely according to plan, we waited a long time before I became pregnant again. Not because it didn't work out, but simply because I wanted to work too much and I am very ambitious. So take it easy.
My second pregnancy was very similar to my first. I was an elephant. But otherwise I didn't have many complaints, luckily, some problems with pelvic instability, but certainly no heavy pregnancy sickness as Lisanne said recently.
Read also: Nausea, vomiting for 9 months
After a caesarean section and the normal recovery period, I was back up and running. But also suddenly healed of the feeling that I saw four children as the ideal family.
The amount of snot, spit, sleepless nights and also all the baby drool. I was sick and tired of it after our girl's infancy. Suddenly that image of my ideal family disappeared like snow in the sun. And now?
Just thinking about the laundry that my two children are now yielding makes me tired. Let alone four of those babes overfill my laundry baskets with smelly sports socks!
How do those mothers do that with all their offspring? You have to make a pan of food the size of grandmother's pans and you can still wonder if you have enough. Yes, if they are small then that will work, but with adolescent hunger all that food is not bearable. Want to make extra so you can eat the leftovers the next day? Forget it, the bottom of the pan has long since been scraped bare with four grit monkeys.
And how the hell do you get all four of your kids to exercise? Where I (and many other mothers with me) always label Wednesday as taxi day for my children, a mother of four on Wednesday alone is not enough.
your car? He can go out immediately. Every ordinary family car is too small for a family of four children. And your house? Sleeping together or moving house; those are the only scenarios you can face with a family of four. Or you have to live so spacious that you can split rooms, but I don't think most homes have five bedrooms.
Shopping? Take only 2 carts with you, or go through that supermarket every day to load your shopping cart full. Help with homework? uhhh, when? At night?
No, double the amount of children provides double the amount of work 😉 , you can hardly avoid that.
Now this may all sound a bit negative, of course that is not the intention. But I just don't understand how those mothers do? I feel like I really have my hands full with two. And that while they are already quite independent. Nothing but respect for the mothers of four children who face the daily challenge of running their household and raising the children.
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