Help! 5 kids 4 years old and under

[JulieVogler]

New to the message board and wondered if anyone had any advice for an overwhelmed mom. My husband and I had 3 singleton births and were surprised by our finally pregnancy of identical twin girls (born January 23, 2005). I'm a stay at home mom, I have lots of good help but I still find it difficult to make time for each one of the kids, my husband and myself. My oldest just turned 4 in December. Any tricks for making this large family and two exhausted parents find extra time for one another????

[twinmom3xs]

but we have found that it is alot of compromise like lets have hot dogs for supper so we can ....[movies, games, ect] Don't worrie about having every little thing the way you usually like it because it will drive you :eek: and consume all your precious spare time. Above all take any help that you can get. We have no family to help us and we had 6 under the age of 5 so I can relate. If you still can't get time well it gets better after the first year so just do your best and take it as easy as possible. The best of luck to you and your family ;)

[totandtwins]

We also had 5 kids 4 and under. When our youngest boys were born we also had a 4 yr old and 3 yr old b/g twins : ) I think the best advice I can give you goes along with what has already been said. I have always used the motto "whatever works" and that really frees me up from alot of the pressure that parenting books and well meaning but annoying friends place on us and our parenting styles. For me I had to realize that the house would probably look like a tornado struck at least 90% of the time...and that's ok, I might not have been able to hold my babies 24/7 but they have wonderful interactions with their sweet siblings, my babies slept in their carseats for the first several months and again, they are now 2 and certainly not still there ; ). Parenting 5 young children is tough stuff, and it is also not a one parent job. I am a SAHM so I shoulder the work during the day, but my husband is 100% present when he is at home and he will do and can do anything I can. Parenting for us is teamwork! I would also say that I wouldn't let fear hold me back from getting out of the house and taking my children places, and when I started to do it I started to feel more confident and we have had wonderful adventures as a result! I just want to say that you CAN do it!! Give yourself a little time to adjust, find a routine that works for you and try to understand that just because your children will have a unique family experience, unique is not bad and it brings with it wonderful joys that come with having a large family, especially one with children very close in age. When i'm having a particularly rough day, and yes they do come, I try to picture our family in the future and imagine how much fun we will have as they grow into adulthood ; )

[JulieVogler]

Thank you for the advice. I truly appreciate it. I have always said whatever works also. It just seems like some days nothing works :) But, with time I think we'll get there...I hope :) Your family is beautiful. Best of luck to all of you.