IT

When my mom was here, we took the kids to the local mall. It was MLK Day so it was pretty busy. We braved the crowds, though, and met up with her friend for lunch, went to the American Girl store and did some shopping.

Towards the end of our day, we went to the play area and Joseph ran into a friend. He and Camille were happy, as she loves playing with S's older sister. I like S's mother very much, so I walked over to say hello to K and her friend.

K actually expressed surprise that I was at the mall. When I looked at her, she said, "I don't know how you get out of the house with four kids!"

(Uh, throw them in the car and go?)

I made a joking comment about having back up- my mother.

But the conversation went on and on. She said she remembered when I told her I was pregnant and Georgie was still a baby. (Hey, I remember that too!) She kept asking me how I do IT, whatever IT is. I tried to deflect her but the questions kept coming.

I get that alot, the "I don't know how you do it" or "How DO you DO IT?" comments. Yes, I could play dumb and give a smart arse answer like, "Well, the last time I was top..." Typically, though, all the smart answers fly out of my head.

And I have to wonder what those people are thinking when they ask me stuff. First of all, who tells a random stranger (or non close friend) that they are brave for having "so many" kids. Most of my friends have 3 children- 4 is only one more than 3! And just what is IT anyway?

No matter what IT is, how could I not do IT? Is IT getting the kids up in the morning? Fed? Dressed? Clean? Well, I'd better figure out a way to do all those things, right? Because who else is going to do them? My maid? Right.

We do IT, whatever IT is, because this is our life that we picked.

So, let's clear up some ideas. I don't do it all. I don't have a perfectly clean house. What I do have  is a large calendar that allows me to menu plan and keep track of our schedual. We have routines and structure that get us through the day and I try to have reasonable expectations. My kids are going to fight, there will be toothpaste in the sink and everyone is going to need Mommy at once.

I think I'm going to write several articles on doing IT- the routine, the troubleshooting of life with lot of small kids. Then maybe people will stop asking me how I do IT!