A woman with 3 kids walks into a Blockbuster...

Sounds like the beginning of a joke. Trust me it's a joke... anytime I walk into any store with my 3 kids it's a joke. No so much ha, ha funny. More like you are out of your mind crazy, why would you take 3 kids anywhere, type of funny.

First of all, when the kids have you out numbered 3 to 1, that's a bad sign. Second of all, if you go into a store and don't bring along your stroller, that's a bad sign. Third of all, when you walk into a movie store and the kids think they have free reign over every movie in the store, that's a bad sign... especially for the people who get to work at that movie store. Pretty much what I'm getting at is that this little outing wasn't any different than any other time I go out.

The kids, to me, were normal, happy, somewhat well behaved, and perhaps just a bit overstimulated from all the potential trouble they could get into. I was standing at the counter getting a movie for the kids with Abrie standing at my side while the other two were, ummm... somewhere in the store. An older lady walks up to stand in line and looks at Abrie, then looks at me, "My what a sweet daughter you have." I smile and say thank you. Then Kaleb runs up to me with an ice cream in hand, "Mom, Mom... can we buy this, pleeeaaaase!!". The lady looks at me again, "Oh, and you have a little boy as well. I'm sure they keep you busy." I respond with my usual response, "Yep, they keep me busy alright". Just then Macie runs up to me with a slew of movies and gummy worms, "Mommy, I want gummies, peeeaas!!". Then the lady says to me, "Wow, is she yours too?!". My first response was going to be, "Nope, I just like to carry around extra kids with me everywhere I go. Sometimes they just happen to call me Mom", but since sarcasm is SCARcasm (or so I've been told) I resisted the urge and just settled with, "Yep, she's mine too." This is a moment where I wish I had a shirt that says either, "Yes, I know what causes pregnancy" or "I'm just multiplying and replenishing". The lady looks at me with an exhausted look and says to me without hesitation, "Three little kids?! I would kill myself if I had three little kids." I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that one. I'm still not sure. I ended up looking at her with a half smile and saying something random (and slightly inaudible) like, "Oh, ya... kill myself... ha, that's a good one". Then I turned around, grabbed my 3 little yay-hoo's, and headed out the door laughing to myself.

Why was I laughing to myself? I'm not entirely sure. I think it was a combination of her comment mixed with my response... "Oh, ya... kill myself... ha, that's good one" (seriously, I need to be a little bit more quick witted). The whole thing just kind of struck me as funny.

Having 3 kids is definitely not easy, but it hasn't driven me to the point of suicide. Partially crazy?... yes. Suicide?... No. Brain dead?... Yes. Suicide?... No. Stretch marks?... maybe... OK, yes. Suicide? No. Less than perky "sisters"?... Unfortunately, yes. Suicide?... No. An eternally messy house?... Yes. Suicide?... No.

The point is, having kids is no easy feat, but for every negative there are millions of positives and all of the negatives can be easily replaced by a positive. For example; being partially crazy... there's medication for that. Brain dead... do a sudoku. Stretch marks... no problem. Never get naked, then no one will ever see them. The "sisters" aren't as perky (or as my friends like to call them **rocks in socks) ... they have surgery to fix that. An eternally messy house... hire a maid.

Truth be told, I am loving being a 3 kid Mom. I have embraced all of the good and bad that comes along with it. And all of those backward glances and awkward comments I get from people just make me laugh, because they don't know how good I have it. They don't know that I get to be woken up at 6:30 in the morning to sweet kisses by my little early riser. And they don't know that after those moments of chaos and tantrums I get to hear the sweetest little voices say, "I am sorry Mommy". And they don't know that I live for the loads of hugs and kisses I get each day with little dirty hands and messy faces. And they don't know that I have all the free entertainment I could ever want. And they don't know that these three little kids are what makes my life worth living.

So to the lady in Blockbuster I guess my response to her, "I would kill myself if I had three kids" statement, would be that's unfortunate... very unfortunate. You haven't lived until you've experienced trying to wrestle with three kids in a public setting and trying to keep your cool. It's awesome!

**I must apologize to my husband, Father in law, and brother in laws for my rocks in socks comment. I'm afraid they will never look at me the same way again.