Thursday, September 11, 2008

Comfort Levels

As Mr. Incredible was about to head out the door with the two big boys, I jokingly suggested he take Incredibaby along, too.

His response: "If we have N children I think I will be comfortable handling N-1!"

I hear you sweetie! Some days I think I can handle N-N children (you do the math) and other days when I long for N children to the Nth power!

Maybe we'll keep up our record N children in N years of marriage. 4 years, 3 boys here and 1 in heaven. Happy 4th Anniversary, my love!

6 comments:

Mary Alice said...

Congratulations, Incredibles! We had four kids by our fourth anniversary, too, but then we had to slow the pace a bit...twins sort of did me in for awhile there.

I think that once you get past 3 kids at home, the new standard is for dad to be able to go out with n/2 children, if he is hoping to get anything accomplished, that is.

It is a really tough time when all of the kids in your house are under 4, they demand all you have whether there are one or four of them! Now I am pleasantly surprised to find that my 5 and 6 year old actually contribute as much or more than they demand from me, and my almost four year olds can at least entertain themselves for some period of time, so with only one baby I am on easy street.

Anonymous said...

i am happy to hear what you said about children over age 4, mary alice. i have people telling me that no matter what age they are, it never gets easier, but that just can't be true! 3 under age 3 is just going to be rough in a way that ages 10, 8 and 7 won't really be, right? I at least hope for a full night's sleep at that point.
of course, we might have 10, 8, 7, 5, 3 etc. by then... :)

texas mommy: my dad said that when he and my mom felt overwhelmed by their n children, to calm themselves and get some perspective they pretended that there were n+1 but that the other one was just somewhere else right then!

Bethany said...

Congratulations on both your children and your anniversary. I admit that as my husband and I approach our 8th I often wish we had more than just our three. (Though if you had asked me that on Tuesday when the two youngest decided to play in the cat's used litter box, I probably would have told you forget it). My oldest was so small and so fragile when he was born, the thought of trying for another for a few years after he was born just didn't seem fair to him or any other children that may come along. That's why he's 3 1/2 years old than his brother. But I'd prefer to have the rest of my children closer in age than that.
My husband, BTW, managed to keep all three children at home by himself last night while I attended a meeting. And they were all asleep when I got home! Yeh!

Kat said...

Happy Anniversary, Incredible family! I remember your wedding very well, it can't already be 4 years can it??? So much has happened for your family, and I love Mr. Incredible's comment - I think we all feel like that some days!

Bethany, I appreciated your comment about your eldest son and your comfort levels following his birth. I think that many parents have similar experiences, where one child requires some extra care and attention and the thought of caring for another child is daunting. My oldest was healthy and I was overwhelmed with the thought of another child until he was 1, so I can't even imagine! My mother says that she had hoped to have 4 children, but after my sister was born (there are only 2 of us) and had some health complications, she was scared to have another child. Lots of emotions going on, and every family also has different circumstances.

On a different note, please keep the Houston area in your prayers today and tomorrow if you think of it - seems like Hurricane Ike is going to hit the area pretty hard.

B-Mama said...

LOVE all these thoughts--and we relate to them wholeheartedly! I shared about this post with GG last night and we both laughed at our similar thoughts and feelings lately! :) Oh and Texas Mommy, thank you for Baby J's gift!!! You are amazing to have thought of us with everything going on in your lives! Hugs and prayers and happy anniversary!

B-Mama said...

Texas Mommy, you should do a post about life as a "pumper". I would venture to say there are more of you out there than we realize! Linley (from PU) also a pumps due to her son's poor latch. She's at 9mos. and going strong! You all are amazing! Maybe you could inspire other mothers to stick with it even though they have a rocky start to breastfeeding...