The System

 

 

In case you're wondering (you're not, by the way, because you're smart) having four kids ages 5 and younger is a little crazy.  Just a little.  We came home from the hospital early because we didn't feel like spending a ton of money for a bed and room service.  (I'll put that money towards a trip to Europe.  Or bills.  Yeah, probably just bills...)  So we've already had a few days to adjust to our new life.

Ben and I have a system.  It works for us and helps us survive the adjustment of adding another Little into the family.  Picture Haymitch from The Hunger Games in your mind.  Now picture the times when he tells Katniss and Peeta to "stay alive."  Yes.  This is our system. 

But really, our system has nothing to do with an arena.  Our system is basically just switching off jobs (bottle feeding, homework with Lily, getting food made) until all the kids are in bed and then we sit down to breathe.  It's actually pretty awesome despite the craziness of it all.  I really do love it.

At night we have a much more specific system.  I'm on baby duty until 4 AM.  Anything after that is Ben's job while I sleep in a little later than usual. This is what we did with Ella, too.  But this year it's a little different.

What we didn't realize was that with our usual system Ben would be on his own with four kids while having to get Lily ready for school and out the door by 8:30.  This morning I woke up early and was able to help.  That's when I realized just how crazy Ben had it.  Thad needed a bottle and a new diaper, Ella was throwing some kind of fit, Skyler was asking where his breakfast was, Lily was worried about whether she had everything ready for school, and Ben was making Lily's lunch that I forgot to make last night.  And then on top of it all I remembered that today was picture day.  So I took care of Thad and did Lily's hair so that she'd look cute.  Kudos to Ben for trying to do her hair yesterday when he has never actually done it before. 

In other words, this morning was chaos.  But Ben never mentioned how crazy the morning was compared to the rest of the day.  He just took care of everything while I caught up on sleep, somehow oblivious to the obvious. 

I can never quite be thankful enough for my blessings.  I was blessed with such a supportive husband who helps me with everything.  Yes, sometimes he snickers when I can't open a bottled water by myself, but so be it.  I am so thankful that I've been able to have four kids so early in life.  Not everyone has children come to their family so easily.  I'm thankful that Ben has a job that is so perfect for our family.  I'm just thankful for everything.  I wouldn't trade this craziness for the world.