We’ve been parents of three kids for about 16 months now and I have decided to share with you how life now is different from when we had just the two…

1- The car situation. With two kids, it didn’t really matter what we drove because we all fit. Two adults in the front seat, two kids in the back. When you add a third kid it changes everything when it comes to your transportation needs. With two kids the minivan was a luxury (I know, that’s an oxymoron) but with three kids that puppy is a necessity. For example… Tim drives a Toyota Matrix. We love our matrix. However, it is an adult version of Tetris getting all three kids’ car seats in the back. The main reason we haven’t switched baby E out of his infant car seat is that once we do, we have to figure out how to get three regular carseats in the back of Tim’s car. (thankfully Baby E is small for his age so he can still ride safely in the infant seat.) But we will have to make the transition soon.

2- The laundry situation. I thought my pile of laundry with two kids was bad. Adding a third means laundry is never ever finished in our house. And trying to match three different sizes of kids socks is pure torture. We actually just have a large sock drawer that all the socks get dumped into and then we dig through when we need some.

3- The dishes situation.  The concept is the same as from above. More people = more dishes.

4- Bed time routine. Adding an additional little person to the bedtime routine adds a good fifteen minutes to the night. (Sure, fifteen minutes doesn’t sound like much, but when you are dead tired, it might as well be an hour!)

5- More cuddles. See? Not all the differences are negatives. This is probably my favorite. With three kids in the house that is six little arms that want to be around you and thirty little fingers to hold. You are sure to find someone to cuddle and keep you company.

Ok, that’s all for tonight. I’m sure I could think of more if I wasn’t quite so tired!! There’s a time change coming and we all need to get to bed soon!