“It will get better.”

LIE LIE LIE

That’s what countless moms tell each other. I know–they’ve told me. I can promise you that I have never, ever said that to anyone!

Truth:

It will get DIFFERENT.

You may or may not enjoy different parts of parenting and when we compare stories we will surely disagree on what part was “easiest.”

For me, I love, love, love the zero to 12 month stage. I truly love the sweet baby stage.

Favorite part: I like that when you put them somewhere, you come back and they’re still there and they don’t talk back. For me, after they became mobile it was all over.

Still to this very day, I find myself chanting, “I’m not qualified for this job.”

So what stage are you at? What stage have you liked best so far?

I’m the girl who said she “might” have kids but two at the most.

I have four kids.

It would be lovely if I could tell you how we planned each pregnancy and I glowed with excitement at the thought of becoming a mom. That would be BIG LIE #1.

The complete story of *why* we have 4 children will come soon. Don’t get your panties in a wad that I’m damaging their self-esteem by telling the truth. Each child is truly a gift from God and we love, love, love them.

We just don’t like, like, like them all the time.

Oops, sorry, I’m getting off topic (the random thing again…)

When surprise baby #1 arrived life got a lot more complicated. Then surprise baby #2 became baby A and baby B (“Do twins run in your family?” the sonogram technician calmly asked and then said, “I see two sacs” to which I replied, “Two sacks of what?”)

Then, because they all were pretty darn cute and I have this thing about even numbers in families, we PLANNED baby #4 who everyone quietly thinks was a surprise.

We’re way past potty training though I am sure I’ll find a way to entertain you some bathroom stories. Our family enjoys a little toliet humor now and again.

Bridging the gap from toddlers to teenagers—that’s my goal when I write.

It’s that pivotal time in life when moms stop talking and start lying. They smile and decide it would be easier to lie than to tell the truth.

This is when women start to alienate themselves from those old playgroups and friendships and connections. This is the time when sending a happy holiday card letter is easier than explaining what’s really going on at home (aka finding the positive, hiding the negative; hence the “happy” part of the card which is why I love to read them but have never written an “official” holiday letter).

This is when life starts to get really, really interesting.