Power Tools for Treefory???

Finally, it’s my turn to blog! Holcomb is our primary blogger. I’ll make a guest appearance every once in while just to keep a balanced perspective going.

I want to start by applauding all parents who stay at home and tend to small children, including my own spouse who has kept our kids at home during her summer break. You have my ultimate respect and admiration! One evening this week, I was unexpectantly left at home with our 2 munchkins, and well… I completely lost control of the whole household. It just amazes me how quickly a normal, loving parent can lose control over their own 4- and 2-year olds. Obviously, I have not spent enough alone time with our children to be conditioned to handle these moments. On this particular evening, I finally was at a point where I needed a “shock-value” activity, so I took them outside in the front yard and let them “trim” the over-grown bushes with the electric bush trimmer. It did work as far as briefly entertaining them, especially for Breck who loves tools and anything that might be considered a real “guy thing”.

Yeah, I know… who gives their kids power tools as a playtime activity? That whole evening has certainly made me question my parental patience and skills. Most troublesome for me is the fact that I have let our household discussions move toward having another child. Could I manage additional children by myself? What would those home-alone-with-3-kids-evenings be like?

This whole 3rd child syndrome is running rampant in our house, and it’s my fault. We had our friends, Meredith and Jess, over for dinner a couple of weeks ago along with their 2 adorable daughters. Their youngest, Layne, and I had a bonding moment where we were playing with some decorative deer statues… she giggled, gave me a big-ole smile and completely melted my heart. “Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to have another little baby.”

Later, I shared this experience with Holcomb and that’s all it took for the flood waters to pour …. oh, she already has a name if it’s a girl…. oh, when is the best time for her to get pregnant again (no one will allow me to be pregnant… apparently, I wasn’t a very good pregnant lady the first time)…. oh, this is so exciting… oh, she has always wanted a house full of kids… oh, she says I get to name a boy baby! Even Breck has gotten into the hulla-ba-loo! He not only wants a new baby, but he wants 2 new babies and he wants them named Markory (the boy baby) and Treefory (the girl baby). If for some reason we can only get one baby he wants Treefory.

Really!? I never realized that I was the huge barrier to our family feeling complete. I knew Holcomb would be overjoyed with another child, but we always felt so fortunate to have the 2 beautiful kids that we have. Will more children mess up our relationships with the 2 we have? Will Breck be ok if he isn’t the only alpha-male in the house? Will Meric feel forgotten as the middle child? Will a new baby be able to keep up with all our plans of adventures to exotic places?

I know we likely won’t go backwards on this 3rd child movement. I do have to get to a point where I am comfortable with multi-tasking, multi-kids. In the mean time, I think I will schedule more date nights with just me and the kids.

-B