This Crazy Thing Called Life: You Are My Sunshine....

Just in case I haven't said it enough, I've got one awesome three year old. I think she keeps me sane sometimes. When I first found out I was pregnant, we were in a dilemma deciding what to do about childcare for Marley & the new "baby." Well, when we found out there were three, we knew I wouldn't be working for awhile. Then we were in a dilemma deciding whether to keep sending Marley to daycare or not. The thing is- she LOVES school. She loves her friends, her teachers, the art projects, playing outside, singing, learning, everything. She looks forward to going to school. And she has learned so much. Things a three year old outside of daycare wouldn't know. Not saying they won't learn it, but it's amazing how much these small brains can soak in. I mean, the girl has "circle time" with her stuffed animals on the weekends. This past weekend, she introduced the babies to "circle time." It wasn't long before all three were being sent to the office though. Apparently the girls wouldn't sit still and Jack was biting everything in sight so that warranted a trip to the office. One day they'll get it. So, it was either send her to daycare where she loves to be or have her sit home, inside all day everyday, watching mom feed, change, entertain three babies and get no outside time and not much one on one time. The choice was pretty clear. We would keep sending her. There are some days I envy moms who just have one baby because then we could still do really fun things with Marley. A trip to the Zoo or Busch Gardens becomes a lot more difficult when you add three babies into the mix. My friends who have a child around Marley's age and one baby are always saying how they go places and things they are doing, and there are times I get a little jealous or down about it, but I know in a few years we are going to be having a blast with our four kids. The thing is, with three babies by yourself, a trip to the grocery store or even my favorite store, Target, isn't really doable. So, back to where I was originally going with this. Marley has been home sick the past two days. And I love it. Of course I don't love that she's sick, but I love that she's home with us. When I tell people she goes to daycare during the day they often say atleast that makes it easier on me. Not really. I prefer having her home. She makes me laugh, but even better, she makes the babies laugh. When I'm feeding Jack and the girls are having a meltdown because I'm not by them, she runs to them and gets their toys and makes them laugh. If one falls down she quickly rubs their head or back and says, "It's okay honey." (Don't ask me where she got that from, neither one of us say honey.) If one is crying it's, "Please don't cry sissy. It's okay." She is really so good with them. People always ask me how she does with three siblings. I honestly think she does better with them than I've ever seen any kid do with just one sibling. Maybe it's because there's not one baby constantly taking my time up for her to be jealous of. Maybe it's because if she wants someone to play with, there's always someone there. But, if she doesn't want to play, the babies still have each other so it's not a big deal. Whatever it is, it's working. The thing is- Marley doesn't know that this isn't normal. She doesn't realize that most parents come home with one baby brother or sister. One of my good friends had a baby yesterday and I was showing Marley the pictures today and she said, "There's her brother. Where's the other two?" So, in her mind, this is normal. She loves the babies with all of her heart and I am so proud of her for that (and a million other things that I won't bore you all with.)