Are you ready for another?

I get this question all the time lately. "Are you ready for another?" They are looking at and referring to my kids.

I pause. Are they serious? Can't they see my hair sizzling? That's because I am fried. F. R. I. E. D. I am so tired I can hardly put sentences together sometimes. Like a patient recovering from a stroke, I struggle to locate simple everday words filed in some recess of my brain locked down from lack of sleep and overloaded by meal plans, homeschool lessons, and schedules.

My kids are sassy, bouncy, mischievious people, with seemingly endless needs and requiring intense emotional energy from me. They are sweet and fabulous, but they are a lot of work. And only two of them are truly mobile. I have no idea how I will manage being pulled in three directions simultaneously. I know that I will - but I don't know HOW.

There was a time when I was only committed to one kid. I thought, let's see how this one turns out before we impose ourselves on another. What if we are really no good at this parenting thing? What if it's just too much work? Turns out we are reasonably good (though with a constant improvement to be made) and it is too much work, but it doesn't matter because somehow what needs to get done does indeed get done. This does not include a great deal of cleaning or having a tidy home. But it does include lessons and nature walks and snuggles and cookies.

"Another?" I nearly choke on the word. "Three feels like a lot."

I guess I have learned not to say never. But don't hold your breath.