Having four boys means everything times four. Four breakfast, lunch, and dinners to make, four kids to prepare for the day, four yearly pediatric check ups, four mouths to see the dentist, four sets of eyes to be checked, and four babies to watch grow into boys. Are my days chaotic? Yes. Are my days sometimes so awful, that I begin to question why I thought having four kids was a good idea? Yes. But my days are also filled with moments that despite whether they are good or bad, they are moments that make my life whole. These moments define my life. They define who I am. They define how I am as a mother. There are many days where I scold myself. I tell myself that I could be better. I could be more attentive. I could achieve more. Yet, at the end of the day, I usually find that my day was basically the same as every other day. I'm not perfect and neither are my kids. I believe we all have areas that could use some improvement. For me, I am my biggest critic. I constantly criticize myself for not being better. For not owning up to my fullest potential. Here I am with four boys. Four boys that are basically all insanely alike and yet insanely different at the same time. They all have their likes, their dislikes, their own facial expressions, and their own quirks. These are all traits that I live on. Traits that determine how I need to accomplish even the smallest task. When my husband and I decided to have four boys, we were never told it would be easy and we never expected it to be. Yet, somehow having four boys definitely seems more challenging than I originally expected. However, with that being said, I also know that there isn't a single part of these challenges that I would change. These challenges are my fundamentals of having four boys. The fundamentals that define how I need to live my life in order to give them the life they deserve. One of my most recent challenges relates to whether being a stay at home mom is the best course for our family. Obviously, with four boys there are some pretty hefty expenses required. In addition to that, I've been feeling lately like it is time for me to do something with myself other than cook, clean, and do laundry. However, as I reflect on these tasks, I realize that these are my fundamentals. These are the moments that make my life what it is. So maybe I don't earn a living or have a well established career. What I do have, are our four boys. Four boys that need me here, at home in their defining moments.
Reading stories about other families similar to mine is always entertaining and comforting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book about a family raising all boys. It's definitely worth a read. It helps appreciate what matters most.
