So to the mum that asked me at playgroup the other day what’s it like having 3 kids? Sometimes it’s hard. Pretty damn hard.

This particular day I experienced  ‘mummy meltdown mode’ This state is normally induced by me trying to do too much ALL THE TIME. During my ‘mummy melt downs’ I don’t want to parent, I want to be somewhere else (preferably asleep in bed)

That day with the tipi trudging through mud? Everything I was carrying and pushing and shushing was a metaphor for my everyday.

Being a mum of 3 is exhausting. No matter how much sleep I get, coffee I drink, or sofa pit stops I take, I still feel weighed down just like my pushchair.

Don’t get me wrong some days I’m great. I’m on it. I’m that perfect mum that bakes (bad) cheese scones with spinach. I make peg pirates and sing nursery rhymes all whilst doing 5 loads of washing and answering work emails. I manage double nap time (WIN!) and put make-up on with a half-decent outfit that doesn’t consist of leggings and a stretchy T’.

Some days I even iron a top and blow dry my hair! (People generally then ask me if I’ve had it ‘done’ when really it’s just that I’ve actually washed and brushed it properly) But most of the time I’m not that mum. I’m just teetering on the edge of my next meltdown watching the clock for my husband to arrive home and save me.

So again, how is it with 3? Delightfully chaotic. Noisy as hell, but I know one day there will be silence.  I’ll miss the hectic commotion and look fondly back on taking 45 minutes to leave the house (well maybe not the last one)

The kids are learning that the world does not revolve around them and most of the time I think we are winning at teaching them not to be assholes.

If I have to feel like I am pushing a heavy buggy up a muddy hill everyday for the next 18 years then so be it.

After all, nothing worth having in life comes easily and that includes raising 3 children.  So if you are thinking about taking the leap from 2 to 3…

Trust me, it’s worth every crazy second.