Baby 3 And His Evil Brothers

Yes, I can see the irony. I'm taking the time to blog about the fact that there isn’t enough time in the day. Let’s begin.

Tyson, born April 12 2009 is a very good baby. He doesn’t cry anywhere near as much as Archie and Lewis did, he smiles a lot, and he hunts small game and picks wild berries depending on the weather. But even though he is a relatively easy baby he still needs to be fed, changed, bathed, held, played with etc etc. And that bit extra on top of the requirements of his brothers makes a hell of a difference.

It’s all about time. There definitely isn’t enough of it. When you add the needs of three children to the needs of a house and a budget and a career and …(hey, I know it’s a little selfish but how about the needs of old Reservoir Mum and Dad?) it gets hard to fit everything in.

Then there’s the mental stuff – should I clean the house or hang with the kids? Should I go clean a months worth of spilled food from the car or do some spelling with Archie? Am I neglecting Lewis by chucking on a DVD so that I can get Tyson to sleep? Does it matter that I only spend ten minutes reading to the kids at bedtime now?

So many things have to change that little bit when you throw one more kid in to the mix. And then the smallest things the kids do can make you wonder if you’re getting the balance right or damaging them beyond repair. Is Lewis cutting the heads of playdough figurines because I don’t call him bub anymore or because it’s just a fun thing to do? Did Archie say ‘fucking fweak’ when he dropped his book because I haven’t kicked the ball with him for a few days or because I have (as yet) been unsuccessful in stopping myself saying fucking freak whenever something major happens – like when I leave the fridge open or break a shoelace. It’s hard to tell.

All I know for sure is that its good fun – putting sleep deprivation and the like aside – and I’ll love the three little ‘fweaks’ forever no matter what they do, or how much I screw them up with my inept parenting.

Just to leave you with another one of those ‘am I doing something wrong’ moments. This little conversation occurred in that car this morning -

Radio: A man was choked unconscious at a Hungry Jack’s this morning after confronting a group who were attacking his friend…

Archie: Daddy, did you see that?

Reservoir Dad: What’s that Arch?

Archie: A man fell down and hit his head.

RD (looking all around outside the car): Where?

Archie: No, what you are listening to.

RD: On the radio?

Archie: Yeah.

RD: Oh. Yep a man fell down. But he’ll be okay.

Archie: Why did he fall down?

RD: Maybe he tripped over.

Archie: Or maybe someone pushed him over.

RD: Well, if someone did that I hope the police get him and put him in jail.

Archie: Dad, if that happened to Lewis I would miss him.

RD: I wouldn’t let that happen to Lewis, Arch.

Archie: Yeah, but if it did happen, I would get that man and push him down as well.

RD: Umm, well it’s not such a good thing to….

Lewis: Yeah and I would PILL him! (Pill = kill in Lewis language)

RD: Well, no because…

Archie: And Dad, I would get all my friends to help me kill him too…

RD: It’s not good to hurt people…

Archie: And then we would put him in the river…

Lewis: And make him nude to go in the water without his pyjamas…

Archie: Oh yeah, and just put him in the river alive so he will float away…

Lewis: Um, yep.

Reservoir Dad: Hey, look kids, that tree looks like Mr Messy!