Calm Amidst the Chaos

We're starting our weekend with a guest post by TMD reader Sam and her amazing story of the first time she had all 5 of her children (all ages 3 and under) on her own.

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It’s been over a year, but I just love this story! This happened just after our second set of twins were born. At this time our son was 3, our older girls were 2 ½ and our babies were just a few days old.

Today was my first experience taking care of all 5 children at the same time. It was perfectly planned, should have been a smooth hour.

Anthony and his mom, Sherry, were taking a trip to the grocery store. We had to start defrosting a turkey for Christmas dinner, so tonight was the night. Rourke, Lydia & Francesca were in bed for about an hour and should have fallen asleep by the time they left.

Zinnia & Esther were due to eat...in fact, right before Anthony & Sherry left, Anthony informed me that if I didn't hurry up, "Esther is going to eat Zinnia's face off." Twins are so used to being really close to each other, it is comforting for them to sleep right next to each other. If you've never seen it, you should really come by and take a look, it is incredibly precious! However, there are some hazards like getting your face eaten off by a hungry, rooting sister!

So, I averted the crises, Zinnia indeed still has her face, and began to feed the babies. Shortly after I sat down, I saw a shadow outside the door. Someone was not in their bed fast asleep. It was not Anthony & Sherry, the garage door had closed and not reopened, Lydia & Frannie's door never opened, it had to be big brother, Rourke. Apparently his blanket had gotten twisted up and the little guy needed some help to get covered up.

Zinnia & Esther had just begun to eat, so getting up was not an option. I asked Rourke to stay with me. Also, just moments before I had called my mom and was chatting with her. Phone went to speaker so Rourke could say "hi" to Manga (Frannie's version of Grandma when she was first learning to talk and it stuck with my mom) while my mom & I finished our conversation.

Ladies & Gentleman, I was feeling good, what a great multi-tasker I am!

Rourke, Lydia & Francesca are over all doing great with Zinnia & Esther's arrival home. However, they are young children and some reaction is to be expected. Lydia's reaction has been delaying sleep for water, a Kleenex, unsnapping her zipper cover on her footie pjs, asking for her baby that is right next to her head, etc. We have been trying to give her grace and meet her needs tenderly, but firmly explaining that she needs to just get to sleep, her water is right there and she already has 30 Kleenexes in her bed.

Well, tonight she began to cry again, just after I was feeling so great about multi-tasking, I decided I could not multi-task this one, so I thought, "She's fine, she'll just have to cry until I can get up."

Well, she cried for about 15 minutes, I began to suspect that something may really be wrong and I was at a good stopping point with Zinnia & Esther. Rourke was happily talking to my dad at this point.

I went into Lydia & Frannie's room to discover one very distraught little girl. Whose face was covered in blood! Well, my puffed up pride was soon shrunk down a bit, this little girl had the worst bloody nose I have seen. Her hands, face, and pillow were covered.

I did not know if the culprit was a finger or a bonk from her headboard shelf, so I quickly turned on the light to discover indeed a finger up the nose was to blame.

Rourke had run in at this point and was quite concerned for Lydia. Frannie was woken up by my light flicking and I was feeling quite bad for ignoring Lydia's cries for so long.

Okay, now I had 5 awake children in my sole care! I knew Zinnia & Esther wouldn't last long, so I had to be quick. Lydia was melting down and the babies were beginning to make the case that they were still hungry.

I calmed Lydia as much as I could and began to wash her hands...a full scale bath would have been most appropriate, but there was no time for that. Certainly not at 8:30 at night with 4 other children! So, a sponge bath would have to do. As I began to make progress at Lydia's hands, Zinnia & Esther began to make progress at convincing me that they were hungry. Rourke & Frannie were practically crawling into the crib they were so concerned about this unmet need.

A wise mom who too has a large sum of little ones told me once that when I get overwhelmed, to first meet the needs of the youngest and work your way up.

So, a half cleaned up, mostly still bloody Lydia, Rourke & Francesca got to watch a movie at nearly 9pm! I sat down to finish feeding Zinnia & Esther while the other three enjoyed their Steve Green. The babies ate like champs and I got them settled and laid down for bed (or for a few hours anyway). I also had a chance to call my mom back to tell her it was just a bloody nose that I quickly hung up Rourke's conversation with my dad. Nothing to worry about.

Now, I cleaned up Lydia and just as I was finishing, Anthony & Sherry arrived. Sherry took Rourke to bed and Frannie & Lydia camped out on Frannie's bed while Lydia's stained sheets were removed from the bed and clean ones put back on. Anthony finished tucking in the girls and all was well... even my soul!

This situation to a sleepy new mommy would send most of us into an emotional disaster. However, it was different tonight. I was calm, even giggling about the circumstances. Here I am, my first hour "on my own" and Murphy's law was really clear! At other times, this moment would have been a catalyst for anger or fear of "how am I going to do this?" But tonight, it just wasn't so. I was really peaceful. My religious beliefs filled my heart and mind with peace to cope and I was smiling and laughing; completely at a place of peace!

So many people have flat out asked and many more alluded to the question of, "how are you going to do it?" I pray that I will do it just like tonight.

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Wow, that was quite an experience... and I thought my two kids were a handful! So glad you were able to handle the moment peacefully, Sam! Thank you for sharing your story with us!

You can find Sam's blog at

www.spendandbespent.blogspot.com

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Enjoy your weekend!