Quadro-Mom

"Oh, you're the one with all the babies!" She shook my hand cautiously, as though fertility were contagious.

I smiled, unsure whether that was a compliment or an insult. "Yup. That's me."

So it's official. Just call me Quadro-Mom. The transition from three children to four is amazing in terms of how people perceive me. It seems I've crossed an invisible line from normal to nut-job. The reactions are even more extreme considering all my critters are boys.

I often don't know how to respond to these random comments. Reality for me is that I must take all my children with me when I run errands. I have no family in town to babysit my kids. My husband works long hours, six days a week, and most people don't feel comfortable watching four children for a friend. I usually buy my stamps at Sams because it's easier to strap a few kids in a jumbo shopping cart than drag everyone into the post office. I often save important phone calls for drive time in the van when the kids are buckled in and watching a movie. And after many trips to Wal-Mart with my crew I'm tempted to have a few tee shirts made so I can nip the inevitable comments in the bud:

"Yes I have my hands full."

"Yes I know what causes this."

"Yes they are all mine." or "I enjoy taking kids grocery shopping so much that I picked up a few spares on the way."

The truth is that it's hard to parent four very small children. It's hard to juggle diaper changes, nursing, cooking, home-schooling, cleaning, being a wife, and writing full time. It's hard. And I struggle to find the balance so I don't tip over into crazy woman mode. But I'm also learning that the most worthwhile things in life are hard.

Marriage is hard. We've had to dig deep this year and love each other on purpose.

Parenting is hard. Raising four kids is no joke and we often fall into bed with nothing left to give one another.

Writing is hard. My spare time is measured in minutes, not hours, but my third published book will come out in October - with three more in the next two years.

At the end of the day I believe that hard is good. Hard makes us better. Hard makes us work to perfect the things that matter. Hard makes us die to self and rely on God's strength, not our own.

So know this - life is hard, and I can relate.