I don't know about all of you, but my life has been full of dumb decisions. I don't mean to sound critical of myself, because let's be honest, EVERYONE makes poor choices from time to time, and I do feel like I've made quite a few good ones to balance the scale, but unfortunately, dumb decisions are a part of life. They are the fastest way to learn something we don't fully understand, and the lessons they teach are remembered forever.
So, back to the focus of MY dumb decision. I suppose I should call it, my husband's and my dumb decision, because without him I assure you it wouldn't have happened. The decision was to have four babies within six years. Yep, you heard me right. For as different as my husband and I are, it was the one thing we agreed on from the beginning of our marriage. We wanted four kids, and we wanted to have them close together. Crazy right? That's how I felt much of the time as I walked through Super Target with a huge belly and three little boys in tow. The looks I received from strangers were similar to what I'd expect to see if I had offered to let them touch my pet python. "No thank you, crazy lady!"
Nevertheless, I have concluded that, putting all ridiculous, self-consciousness aside, it WAS the best "dumb" decision I've ever made, and I am so glad I had no idea what I was getting myself into at the time, or I might have panicked and missed out on something great.
While my kids were young (about 6, 4, 2 1/2 years and 6 months old), life was chaos. I remember the enormous pile of diapers at the top of the stairs, waiting to be taken to the outside garbage. It's embarrassing really, so I'll let your imagination take care of the details, let's just say ... that pile was a perfect mascot, if you will, for how busy my life was. Books needed to be read, bottoms changed, rolling children monitored constantly, climbing children monitored even more constantly and all markers, pens, scissors, glue sticks and cleaning products securely locked away.
Life was all about growing, staying healthy and keeping those little people alive ... and it was a lot of work.
Fast forward eight years, and those "little people" have grown beautifully and are together in a school in the middle of Metro Manila. The school is K-12 which means they all ride the same bus and attend the same campus. They look out for each other, and the younger kids get to benefit from having a big brothers in middle and high school (which is always considered cool to the kids in their classes).
In the Foreign Service we move every year to three years. I didn't know it when we brought them into the world, but having the kids so close together has helped make each move an easier process for them all. They have a built-in set of friends wherever we go, and moving, with all the change and stress it brings, has helped them grow close together in a way they wouldn't have experienced otherwise.
So, even though my husband and I were a bit naive about what to expect with four kids close together (Did you know teenage boys can down an entire pizza by themselves!?), I can happily say, that foolish as it may have seemed, it was the perfect decision for our family and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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