The Individual Child

Well this week was less than fun. One of the mornings I woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck that got progressively worse. At one point it was near impossible to pick up my little dudes. All three fit into the range of 30-40 lbs and it was killer. With a baby that needs to be held all the time and a toddler that still occasionally needs to be held, it was not fun. Then that was followed by me getting sick the next day. Being a mom that is under the weather that is responsible for the kiddos all day makes things hard. The boys don't understand and their needs still need to be met. And by the end of each day I was desperate for sleep that my body was screaming for. Any mention of me being sick is usually followed up by the are you pregnant question. I typically don't get sick often and if I do it goes away quickly. When I am pregnant.. I live in the restroom or in bed because either the room is spinning or I'm throwing up. So no I am not pregnant.. and really was just sick.. but that got me thinking...

I throw around the discussions about expanding our family.. some around me ask if I am pregnant yet jokingly. Or I get comments about my crew when I am out about "handling so many of them"...like a herd or something. I have even referred to them as my little circus that I have. And when getting caught up in my desire to have a large family.. or baby fever that rears its head... or the thought that I may never be pregnant again... one thing that needs to be focused on is the children themselves. They are each individual people that have needs. They are each their own person with their own thoughts and wants and personalities. They each need to be factored into our decision on expanding or not expanding our family. They each need to be thought about when it comes to other major decisions for our family.

I have said before.. now that I have multiple of them.. it is clear as day to me how different each child is, in so many aspects. And as their mother it is important to tailor how I raise them.. what works for one, might not work for the other. When I was pregnant with my middle dude.. I obsessed over how older dude was going to handle it. Then when I got pregnant with littlest dude I incorrectly assumed it would be "just like last time". But middle dude is not oldest dude.. So it was different.

Then there is the fact that because mine are all boys so everything should be lumped together. Even though they are all boys and like some of the same things (superheroes is such a big thing over here) they each like things of there own. Books, tv shows, foods, movies, sports and so on. They are each their own person and each of them hold their own position in our family.

As I navigated through the week where I was in survival mode.. I focused on some of their unique traits. Focused on what calmed each of them.. what occupied each of them..what set off each of them..etc. It is amazing how each of them was so uniquely created. It is amazing how each one of them has their own special place in our family. I am feeling better now and look forward to what the weekend will bring to our family. If we choose to expand our family then we will make that decision with each of their best interests at heart. Getting pregnant.. growing a baby.. the baby stage.. it is all so exciting and fun.. but it is more than that.. it is about bringing a unique individual into the world..and you get the awesome responsibility of rearing them in the right direction.