Raising more than one

After a mothers first, even second child, they may find themselves thinking nothing is the same, and yes, that is in fact the truth. Once a mother moves on to having a second child, reality starts to kick in and now they must be twice as affectionate, twice as caring, and twice as focused. Becoming a mother of more than one truly shows off ones skills in every aspect of mothering, whether they believe themselves to be a good or bad parent. The proven fact that the first one is still alive and breathing says everything. Of course, along the way a mother picks up the tricks of the trade, each and every time a new life is born, a few of those tips are listed below:

1. Learn to Let Go and Pick Your Battles

Once a mother realizes that life can be so much easier when she finally lets go of disagreements between her children and their nonstop fighting, is when she will finally seek peace. Once a child realizes that their sibling is going to be around forever is when the bickering begins to take place. Although this can be annoying, it is quite healthy for mothers to allow to happen to create room for growth and strength in each of them. Growing up a single child can prohibit you from being around other children and learning the skill of defending yourself in any way. This can be corrected by trips to the park, or being enrolled in school however there is no better teaching than sibling rivalry. Mothers can assure themselves that everything will be fine because eventually the fighting will stop and they will have learned their limits. As life is all about learning your limits and when it is a good idea to stop before it is too late.

2. Dirt is our Best friend

Every new mom is still adjusting to their clean life and how everything had to be perfect, or so they thought. Once baby number two presents themselves, keeping everything clean flies straight out the window. The mindset behind being clean is knowing that nothing is dirty and it doesn't need immediate attention to being cleaned, however, baby number two eventually takes that time away and then everything turns into as long as it can be found, it will be okay. As a mother of multiple children it may start off as a bumpy patch because time and attention is now dedicated to them, however over the years they too start picking up on the cleaning habits and life starts returning to normal. So stress not mothers when producing more than one trash machine, the time will come that a mess is missed because there is nothing left to clean!

3. Ensuring Mom has Me Time

Sticking with intentional parenting can become unbearable. At times a mother should sit back and relax, and allow the child to teach them. Doing this, creates a stronger bond between each other when they start showing everything they have learned throughout the years. Taking a break will allow mothers to rejuvenate themselves because the energy being given is not being replenished, if they are not restoring it. Not saying this break needs to turn into a week vacation but a few hours out of the day can show drastic change in behavior.

4. Creating Systems/Routine

Establishing a routine with younger children turns out to be quite beneficial to everyones' health. The reason being is that a child that has no structure will never know when to stop and correct their actions because they are always on the go. Issuing a proper routine at a young age can benefit the child all throughout their adolescent years into teen years, followed by their adult years. Simply because they are given a game plan as to when to go and when to stop and realign themselves with the present. Often times children will keep going and going until they completely deplete themselves, and although that sounds fine and dandy, it will eventually take a toll on their mental health.