Mothering three Is Harder Than One

“Mothering three is harder than one,” said a seasoned mom to the newbie—me. In my mind, my response was something snarky like, “blah, blah, blah, hold my child that’s screaming—your annoying”. If you are a mom, I am sure you have heard other non-helpful motherhood statements and advice like “just wait until you have three kids, it get’s really crazy then.” Or— “I remember when I had one child like you and thought that was hard, now I have three and it’s far more difficult.” This is the type of mom advice we don’t need, am I right?

Mothering One Child

I remember when I had my oldest, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing like most newbie moms. Going from zero children to having a child I was responsible for was a different kind of pressure and privilege. I researched how to be a good mom and second guessed myself all-the-time because that’s what you do in a world of Pinterest perfect mothering. Everyone has opinions which make this first time parenting thing complicated and sometimes even more exhausting than actually dealing with a baby that’s been crying all day.

Having one child was hard work.

Mothering Two Children

Then I became pregnant with my second child and I was ecstatic and scared at the same time. Honestly, the thought of getting two kids out of the house and into car seats and then out of car seats and into wherever we were going, sounded worse than actually pushing the child out. My second hadn’t even seen this side of the world yet and the thought of her being added to the mix made me freaking tired. I would watch other moms in the parking lot like they were superhero’s and think “how am I ever going to pull that off.” And yet, my second daughter came along, and we figured it out just like I figured out how to do it with one.

Having two kids was hard work.

Mothering Three Children

(photograph by Bubbling Brooks)

Then we (we, as in myself with my husband’s participation) got pregnant with my son. We wanted three kids and knew, just like every time we had a child, it was going to be hard. We had never had three kids before, so it was going to be a new adventure. Juggling family life, church life, blog life, makeup artist life, and motherhood life is an actual art form in my opinion. And— while we did know what to expect with adding a newborn to the mix, a baby is a baby, and they are entirely unpredictable.

Having three kids is hard work.

So, here is what I want you to hear tired, sometimes crazy, brave, relentless, and beautiful mothers. Motherhood can be difficult no matter the number of children you have; you only know what you know. Yeah, it’s hard, but it’s the most rewarding hard work you will ever do. So, take a deep breath and do the very best you can with your one, two, three, or ten kids. And just remember, when someone makes those encouraging (insert sarcasm) “one up” comments about their child number situation being harder, just smile, give a thumbs-up, agree that she is a supermom, hand her your crying baby, and take a nap.

Works every time.

xo, Kendra

p.s- I am tapped out at three kids. Props to you moms who have more, you are amazing, and I mean that.

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