Comments on: Does It Really Get Harder?????

By: Christie

Christie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:55:34 +0000

i don’t really know about it getting easier as my kids are still only 3 & 5, but it is nice to be out of nappies & at least one child can get dressed on their own, while our youngest isn’t far off. we still have the pain of getting 2 in & out of carseats, but I rarely use the pram now, so i don’t have to deal with getting that in & out of the car too.
next year i will even get some time when they are both at school (kinder)so i will be able to run some errands kid-free, that will be nice!

By: KylieM

KylieM — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:42:46 +0000

I think it gets different .. mine are 6,7 and 11 now and although them being all at school now things have become easier .. things are busier! All three of mine do three activities each, and the older one has just started volunteering at Landcare as well.

So we have Joey Scouts on Mondays, Scouts on Tuesdays, Swimming on Wednesdays (luckily at the moment they all have lessons in the same hour!), Cubs on Thursdays, Guitar lessons on Fridays, Little Athletics & Landcare on Saturdays. Throw into that a camp or two (my older scout attends camp about 2-3 times a term). Then there is homework, reading etc. My boys also for the most get along, but now the squabbling is rougher and louder. Often at the end of the day the older two are screaming at each other, one day we are going to have black eyes I am sure.
The positives, my 11 year old is very responsible so I am able to go grocery shopping without them, he will look after them fine. For the most pat they get themselves breakfast and keep entertained on the one day we have a chance to lie in. They can sleep over at friends houses, and if you time it right all of them are gone on the same night!
I have just got back to work, two weeks ago in fact, after a few years off its been a learning experience, and we are still finding our feet .. but organisation is our key to make it all less stressful! I have a set of 12 large plastic drawers at the front door, the children have 1 set of four each, they are labelled with school, scouts, swimming, athletics etc .. whatever is relevant to that child .. and in it is all the things they need ie/ uniforms, books, charts whatever, even their towels and swimmers go into their swimming drawer, so for any activity they go to their drawer and its there … it has saved us from ‘ muuuum have you seen my goggles/bathers/musicbook/joey uniform/scarf/woggle’ .. LOL

So is it easier/harder? not sure really .. it is different, but I am mighty glad I am over the in and out of car seats thing!

By: Gypsy

Gypsy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:16:28 +0000

I am on a commenting roll today! I have been thinking about this and the ‘simplify’ motto, one thing that has really simplified our lives is only having one car. I live in a neighbourhood where I can walk to most things – a supermarket, library, community playgroup, cafes, village shops. I have a double mountain buggy that stores everything I need underneath it, and if I can’t walk to it, I can’t go! On the odd time I need a car I can drop hubby at work or he gets a lift, but it has cut out so many ‘important’ things that I used to think I ‘had to do’. Walking is much slower, but much calmer and easier than driving … and better for the environment, the wallet and for building community. When Munchkin starts school we will be able to walk there too … and I can really see this will make life simpler because it just cuts out options and lets us focus on what really matters.

By: Rae

Rae — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:03:25 +0000

*sigh* I too think it gets easier. They are so hands on when little. 2 car seats and 1 booster seat for us. My goodness, going up the street for even a short trip… it’s just an effort. I remember meeting a friend one time, then packing them back in the car for a short drive to a second destination (an op shop local to where we’d had brekkie with my friend). When I got there, I just couldn’t get them out of the car again, this time on my own, so went home. May seem silly to some, but for me, when they are out of boosters and doing their own seat belts… oh what joy!

By: steff

steff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:05:03 +0000

is tehre ever an age that is easy? As i discover each year Every year older seems to come with it its own new challenges – 4yr olds are not easier than 3s they are different with different challenges – and then when you think ive gone through 1 AND 2 AND 3 so when number 2 daughter hits 3 i will have coped with those challenges and know how to handle them – but then because of the dynamics of them having an older sibling everything changes. But i wonder – I think as i go I could list the “3yr old challenges” and “4yr old” and i wonder is it every year something new and different so we can grow as a mum – It never gets easier from what i can say but tehre is that classic saying “”Nothing that’s worthwhile is ever easy” If we do not have the bad times of motherhood we can never truly apreciate the good

By: Katy

Katy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:04:12 +0000

Thanks for this post Nicole! I also wonder, with how physical it is with littlies, how will it change as they get older? Effectively coercing and strapping 3 littlies into car seats is tiresome in itself when you’re running errands here there and everywhere!!!

By: Fiona

Fiona — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:41:42 +0000

… forgot to say that I also have 3 carseats in a row. What you need to do is buy a ‘seat belt extender’. It effectively raises the car’s seatbelt buckle by either 20cm to 30cm. I purchased mine from http://www.seatbeltsolutions.com.au which is in Perth. There may be a company more local to you. It cost around $38.

Since purchasing the seatbelt extender, my eldest (5.5yrs) can now do up her seatbelt all by herself.

It is brilliant. I wish I had known about them 3 years ago.

By: Cellobella

Cellobella — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:17:26 +0000

Well I think it totally gets easier. Family dinners are more interesting and playing family games like cards or Singstar are great fun.

The kids organise themselves in the mornings which gives me an extra half hour lie-in and they get themselves to school.

When they do their chores – they do them well enough that I don’t have to do them again and sometimes they even bring me a cup of tea when I’m watching telly in the evening.

I’m loving it… and of course them!

By: carol

carol — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:05:12 +0000

It just gets different

By: sparklygreenknickers

sparklygreenknickers — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:37:23 +0000

I have a 4yo boy and 14yo girl. My son can be physically exhausting, but my daughter is mentally and emotionally exhausting! I find her to be much harder work than my son right now. (I totally admit to being someone who adores babies/young children, though. Maybe dealing with her would be easier if I adored teens as much!)