My sister sent me this snippet from The Mother’s Almanac. It made me laugh and cry at the same time, especially since I had taken my boys to the park this morning and made up a game involving running laps across the field to burn energy. Although I thought chaos was just part and parcel of having young children in general, not just boys in sets of three!
There must be a special place in heaven for mothers of three sons. You certainly can tell them on earth. They’re those ladies with amused, bemused faces and an amazing tolerance for disaster – for they have learned that shouting doesn’t help.
No other combination of children, not even twins, can create so much chaos or camaraderie. Even the most introspective child will join the team – them against you – and like all good players, they encourage each other to bigger feats of daring.
We recommend the advice of so many successful mothers of three boys. Give them as much outdoor playtime as possible, and indoors, set up two rooms: one for sleeping, with nothing but beds and bureaus, and the other for playing, with much climbing equipment. With three children, one is bound to be quieter than the others and he probably will need a corner somewhere else.
You will be frazzled in the early years but when your boys grow up, we think you’ll find yourself perhaps more treasured than most other mothers.
We have 4 boys (and 4 girls) but only with our last 2 had 2 boys together. We always had a girl in there to add some common sense which seems to be non existent in young boys! This, ‘they encourage each other to bigger feats of daring’ sums it up perfectly!
Thank you for this post. I am a mother of 3 boys.
This is great! Definitely sharing it with my brother and SIL, who also have three little boys, ages 1 – 5. 🙂
This makes me laugh… and wonder what feat of daring they will come up with next. And BTW, which boy has the quieter disposition?
Your support means more to us than you’ll ever know as we muddle through this journey of parenthood!
That is beautiful. I do think of you because you (& Rich, too) are so patient & loving. I admire you, respect you & love you.