If you’ve watched the movie or read the novel itself, you’d know that Cheaper By the Dozen is a heartfelt narration of what a mom of multitudes goes through on a daily basis. There’s not much room for sleep, quality time with her husband let alone, time for herself.
You’ve also seen what a mom’s life looks like in one of our previous posts, and you know it ain’t the prettiest picture. And that’s just on a basis of single-child births.
Can we really imagine what it’s like to have multiple kids in one birth? That means double the effort, double the diaper changes, double the noise, double the mess and double the care. Considering they’re twins. How much more work would it be if they were triplets? Quadruplets? Or more?
I can only imagine.
Well, in case you already feel overwhelmed by the amount of heavy work you’re putting out as a parent of a newborn or a single child, you’re about to become more thankful for your situation. Or, if you know exactly how it’s like to care for multiple babies at the same time, you’d totally relate to this post.
Heather Kahoun
Heather Kahoun is a blogger, marketer, former teacher and a full-time wife and mom to three children: Tyler and twins, Lilah and Lexie.
Lilah and Lexie were born prematurely at 29 weeks early on the 29th of July 2010. Both were so tiny. Lilah weighed 2 lbs 7 oz and 15 inches long while Lexie weighed 2 lbs 12 oz and 15.5 inches long. Both came out breathing on their own but spent some time in the NICU for further care.
All three of her kids are now in school and getting multiple ready in time for school is not an easy task! According to her in an interview with Circle of Moms, setting several alarm clocks in the morning helps with all their morning routines. The kids have one spot where they change their clothes and put their shoes on.
She also said that the best tip for busy morning routines is to make sure the kids know the routine by heart. Heather’s kids know where to eat, where to dress and when to brush their teeth.
Heather, her kids, and her husband resides in Florida where they are enjoying doing home projects of their own. To know more about how Heather mothers her eldest son and twins, visit her blog.
Ami Bunch
Mother of three identical triplets, Ami Bunch, has had quite a ride in motherhood. First, filled with excitement after finding out they were having triplets to learning of the risks of multiple births and then the mixture of joy and worry upon seeing her babies.
Ami gave birth to two boys and one girl on March 23, 2009 at 33 weeks into the pregnancy only to find one of their son’s born with a deformity. Colton was born with a cleft lip and palate. At the same time, all three of them were in the NICU for more than 20 days each.
Managing three toddlers isn’t an easy task. It requires a lot of patience and a whole lot of tricks to make things work smoothly.
A few tips Ami gave to her readers are:
- Breathe in and out when they cry all at once. Considering the option of having something nice to drink. (I’m just kidding and so is she :D)
- Nighttime feedings are possible to be done by one person. Feed them one at a time careful not to turn on any lights and be as quiet as you can to make sure you don’t wake the other two. Do the same for diaper changes.
- If you want a shower, drag your infants with you and give them toys to play with to keep them occupied for a few minutes. You need to learn speed showers. :D
Check more of her tips by reading through her blog!
Amber Bell
It was in January of 2012 when Amber and her husband received the news they were going to have a baby. Actually, not just a baby. They were expecting 4. Yes, they are parents of quadruplets.
Amber was a magazine editor before she had her kids and she is now a full-time mom and blogger. Amber was asked by one of her readers a question most mothers would not dare to ask for fear of making their single-child life seem a whole lot easier.
What does a typical day look like for a mother of quads?
Like massive, semi-organized chaos! Daytime starts with a feed at 8 or 9 am followed by naps in their pack and plays in the living room. There’s three hours between each feed and feedings take around an hour or so, thus we end up with roughly two hours or less of time to nap, work, clean, do laundry, eat, etc. in between. It goes quick.
The next feed is followed by tummy time and I usually cram in some work, a blog post or a quick errand after that while they spend a little time in their swings. We give baths every other day so if they are due up, we do that after the next feed. Depending on how awake or fussy/not fussy the quads are, they get swaddled and put in their cribs for bed anywhere between 9pm and midnight. We’re still working out that last part as they grow, eat more, sleep more, etc!
I would believe if someone told me Amber is a master multi-tasker. And, I would bet money she’s a pretty good one at that considering she’s on this list of Busiest moms! Check out her fun blog!
Casey Jones
If you are a mom, you’d be accustomed to the TV channel TLC. And if you’re an avid watcher of this channel, you probably have heard of the show called Quints By Surprise which is a reality TV show of Ethan and Casey’s parenting life. Sounds boring, right?
They have quintuplets. And an older daughter. A total of 6 young kids, five of them the same age.
If you’ve seen their show, you know what life is like for Casey. She’s a hands-on, full-time mom to her eldest child, Eliot, and to her quints.
Can you just imagine how their house looks like a feeding factory? Casey is probably on of the busiest moms in the world, but they make it work. Casey and Ethan has one simple tip to feeding quints on their blog.
Seriously, it’s all about the schedule these days. Keep them on schedule, get them as much formula as you can get down them in 30 minutes and life is good. Do not follow the schedule, let them slack on the bottle and you can be certain your life will be very chaotic for the next several hours!
To no surprise, the couple has, of course, enlisted the help of family and friends in caring for their quints, especially when they are sick. Eliot, their eldest, is also a huge help. Check out their blog and their show!
Becki Dilley
On May 25, 1993, Becki and Keith Dilley became the first parents ever to have sextuplets in the state of Indiana after multiple times of failing to conceive. Their kids are also the first sextuplets born in the United States.
You may have seen these six incredibly good-looking kids on the news last year because the entertainment world re-visited the life of one of the busiest moms in the United States.
And it’s only appropriate to re-visit their lives because the sextuplets have graduated. That makes their parents lives a lot less busy because that’s six children out of colleges and starting their own lives.
According to an interview with the couple, the tremendous support they got from family and friends is what really got them through this entire parenting journey. Their parents moved closer to them to help take care of the kids on a daily basis.
I think it’s safe to say that Becki was one of the busiest moms up until recently. Don’t you agree?
Kate Gosselin
You’ve seen this bunch on TV even while they were still running around in their diapers. Kate Gosselin, star of reality TV show Kate+8, is a mother of 8 – a set of twins and a set of sextuplets. Kate is a registered nurse and worked as a nurse until 2004 before the hit reality TV show. Consequently, Kate has stuck to the show business aspect of her life. Today, Kate is still seen on the TV show alongside different TV appearances, releasing books and parenting her eight kids on her own. Talk about being one of the busiest moms on TV!
On her blog, a reader asked what her secret to keeping her house is. Of course, she has secrets for that! She has eight kids after all! Here’s what she shared.
The key to organization is:
1. First, find a home for items that makes the most sense. This is especially important if you “stock ahead” on household/food items like I do.
2. Label it! Label the shelf or basket (i.e., “kids shampoo and conditioner”)
3. Change it. If the closet isn’t shelved to be used the way to need it to be, either reshelve it, or get baskets or crates to make it work.
4. Make sure everyone knows where items are to be stored.
5. Be disciplined. Organization takes constant commitment to keep your home
Follow Kate and her fab eight here.
Michelle Duggar
Okay, so this mom did not give have a multiple-child birth with 19 kids. But, I’m sure you’re pretty familiar with this HUGE bunch. They’ve been in the news for both positive and negative attention but either way, the world is definitely fascinated with this family.
Michelle Duggar gave birth to 10 boys and nine girls – out of which consists of 2 sets of twins. What is it really like to parent 19 children whose ages aren’t that far apart?
Just think about the amount of laundry this mom of 19 has to do on a daily basis? No, she doesn’t spend her entire day in the laundry room. She spends an equal amount of time in the kitchen, too.
In one of her video blogs, Michelle talked about bits of advice she would have given to her younger self. She mentioned she simplified things. For example, she simplified her laundry routine by having all of her kids wear the same color or the same shade.
She also said to make sure not to devote too much time outside of the family during the early stages of child growth.
Not that I plan on having 19 kids, but the laundry tip makes so much sense. I can just imagine her having a calendar for everything – food, clothes, after school clubs and chores.
She’s definitely one of the busiest moms in the world for me hands down. If not, probably the busiest actually.
I don’t know if you cringed as the number of children started increasing or just sat in front of your computer in awe wondering how they’re able to do it all, but one common thing I noticed as I read their blogs one by one is PATIENCE.
You will learn to extend your patience even when you think you’re at your limit. That’s what having multiples teaches parents. I cannot possibly imagine myself in one of these women’s shoes. They are some of the busiest moms by far, but they make things work with love, care and utmost support from their families and friends.
For an outsider’s view, I completely agree with the patience bit, but I personally think developing a strong support group is one of the most vitals pieces in this kind of journey. Your support group might be unable to physically aid you, but they CAN emotionally and mentally be there for you.
And of course, one thing we should remember: every child is a gift even if you weren’t expecting six at the same time.
Got any multiples story you’d like to share? Leave us a comment below!
The post Struggling with one? Here are the World’s Busiest Moms appeared first on momooze.
