Life with 5 looks like this

The top question we get asked these days is “So, what is life like with FIVE?”

I don’t always know how to answer because it’s complex.  It’s wonderful and it’s awful.  I love it and some days I just want to crawl into bed and hide from everyone.

Bradley keeps saying, “We did this to ourselves.”  Yes, yes, we did.

For those who have asked and maybe didn’t get a full response and for those who are just curious, here’s what life with five is like right now:

It’s messes in almost every room of the house.

It’s diapers, boxes and boxes of diapers.  Hello, subscription for diapers and wipes, I will be signing up very soon.

It’s laundry that is never ending.

It’s markers on the face, or the wall, because we can’t keep track of everyone at every single moment of the day.

It’s sweeping the dining room floor and collecting enough crumbs to feed at least one child.  Because who has time to sweep?  Especially when the next mess will land on the floor in just a few hours.

It’s finding sippy cups under the sofa with curdled chocolate milk in them from a few days ago.

It’s two cups of coffee in the morning because even though the baby slept for seven hours, the two year old got up because she found the six year old in her bed in the middle of the night.

It’s bathing the baby with a wipe because bath time seems only fitting for the people who actually get dirt on them.

It’s crawling into bed at night and realizing that you showered kisses on everyone in the family BUT your husband that day.  And then rolling over and not doing anything about it. #wifefail

It’s savoring the hour you have in the afternoon while the three youngest sleep and the older two are still at school.

It’s finding an open wet diaper in your bed in the middle of the night because you forgot to throw it away when you changed the baby after the last feeding.  (And it’s also choosing not to tell your husband this happened).

It’s putting your kids’ Sunday school crafts in the kitchen not to admire their artwork but because you need moment-by-moment reminders of what it means to love.

It’s snuggles and kisses.

It’s trying to creatively carve out time to spend with each child individually so they feel important and valued.

It’s joy and thankfulness because God has richly blessed you.

It’s delight in the little people who are learning how to trust God in challenging times.

It’s sacrifice and daily dying to yourself because this is what Jesus calls us to do.

It’s draining and fulfilling.

It’s a gift that we don’t deserve.

And tired as I may be, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.