What She Said

The Elmo Wallpaper. Do you know this blog? Do you know this wonderful mom of three boys? Do you? Because she wrote last week what I wish I had been able to find four years ago. She wrote the best post about having a third baby that I have ever read. It is personal. It is comprehensive. It is practical. And it is touching. Most of all, it rings so so true in its honesty and wisdom and fact. Read it. Even if you want nothing to do with three children or already have five or are somewhere in between.

She writes about coming to her own decision to have a third (and how she came to have two before even really planning it). She writes about emotions and practical considerations (the dreaded money). She writes about other people’s reactions and (invasive, ignorant) questions. And she writes about the result. Her third baby. And how her family has changed. Sibling relationships. Family dynamics. And how mothering a third is such surprising gift. And so different from the first two.

I feel such gratitude having read this now, even four years after I was first flirting with the idea of a third. Reading writing like this by other moms of three (and more, but especially three) I feel at peace knowing that what I went through—and what I am experiencing now—is felt by others. I feel calm, understood. And on nights like tonight, when my children have nearly stripped me down to exposed nerves, I am grateful. And thankful. Because motherhood is hard. And we need all of the resources we can find. So check this out, and see if you don’t come away wanting to hug your babies a little tighter tonight.