Hi, everyone. Welcome back to my channel. Today I thought I'd film a bit of a chatty
video to answer a question that I've been getting a lot lately, and that is how I'm
coping with three. I think pictures and videos of Jackson have made a few of you broody as
well, as some of you have been asking how I'm getting on, how I'm coping, and wondering
if you could cope with three. I think that's what's happening, so I thought I'd just answer
in this video.
I'll just start out by saying so many people have told me and I actually watched videos
on YouTube of people saying that the hardest transition for them was going from having
two children to three children. Now for me, I don't feel that. I feel that my hardest
transition so far has been going from having no children to one child.
When I had Fraser, that was the hardest change for me because I kind of went from having
a life, going out all the time, socializing, having a full-on job, and just having both
of me and Matt time, to not like losing my life, but just everything changed. I wasn't
working anymore. I had a different group of friends because I was sort of trying to find
like some mommy friends. You got to stay in a lot more. You have to find a routine. Everything
sort of was like stripped away, in a way, for the good, but I found that the hardest.
So many of you comment, "I've got a three-week-old baby. How are you out the house? I look like
a zombie," blah, blah, blah. With my first, I was the exact same. I was not leaving the
house. I was struggling. I was not putting on makeup all day long. I couldn't get out
of the house. I found it really hard with my first.
With my subsequent babies of Caleb in Jackson, I found it completely different because I'm
already in that routine. When Caleb came along, yes, it was double the the work, but I was
already in a routine. We were already doing bath time at 6:00 and bedtime by 7:00. Same
with Jackson. They just sort of slip into this routine.
For me, going from zero to one was much harder than going from two to three. I think you're
already in it. You're already in the baby world.
I'm actually finding it absolutely fine at the moment, but, bear in mind, Jackson is
only ten weeks old. He's not moving yet. He's not eating yet. He's not doing much yet. I'm
sure that will maybe be different when he's running around, when he's one, and I have
a three-year-old and a six-year-old. That might be harder. But he, one, is a very good
baby, so that probably really helps. But also, I think my age gap helps.
Each of my boys are nearly three years apart. When one child reaches the age of two, then
we would start trying again. By the time I have another baby, the first baby is always
in a big boy bed, potty-trained, feeding themselves, getting a bit more self-sufficient. We planned
the age gap that we have mostly due to the government grant you get for nursery. Because
I am a working mom, we didn't want to have two in full pay nursery at the same time.
We wouldn't have been able to afford it.
We also just weren't ready to have another baby until one reached the age of two because
the first year is so full-on. There's so many milestones that you're doing, and you're kind
of getting your body back, and you're just getting back to yourself. I kind of scraped
through the first year, and then in their second year, it was a year that I just really,
really enjoyed, when I was going to lots of classes with each one of them and having that
sort of one-on-one time with them. Then when they reach the age of about two, then we both
were kind of like, right, I think we could do this again.
Yeah, I really recommend it. I think any age gap has its pros and cons, but I've loved
having the age gap that we do. I think if you have a smaller age gap, then, yes, when
they're older, they'll be really close. If you have a bigger age gap, the worry is that
they might not be as close, but they're so self-sufficient and they're so helpful. For
me, my eldest, who's nearly six, is so loving towards our baby. He can hold him, he can
push the buggy, he can get me things, he can get me a nappy if I need one. That would actually
be a lovely age gap as well. I don't think there's any perfect age gap, but I think that
age gap is a factor of why coping with three is going quite well.
I think having a good routine and sticking to it is also really important. I love a routine
not only for my children, but also for my own sanity. I like to know what's going on,
and I like to know that by seven o'clock or eight o'clock, they will all be down and I'll
be able to have some time to myself to work or to go online shopping or something like
that. Yeah.
Also, my eldest is at school every working day, so that obviously helps. Then my middle
son goes to nursery two days a week now, so there's two days that I get just with my baby,
which is lovely.
But obviously, it is full-on. There are points in the day when all three of them want me
at the same time. You almost have to prioritize. It's like while someone's on the toilet and
needs me to come and help them with that, the baby wants breastfeeding, Caleb wants
another fancy dress outfit, you have to prioritize. Right, I'm going to do the toilet, then I'm
going to the breastfeeding while I help him with the costume.
It is full-on at times, but I love it. I wouldn't change it for the world. I've always wanted
a big family. I imagine myself, when the boys are older, having lots of people around at
Christmas, them all bringing their girlfriends, and it being like a really busy household.
I think if you don't feel done, if you really don't feel done, I don't think you are done.
Me and Matt always said we wanted three children, but definitely after we had our second son,
we both didn't feel done. We both said we didn't want it to be it to be our last child.
I think if you have that like yearning inside you, then if you're able to go ahead and do
it, it's something you should do because you might always have that feeling.
Obviously, yes, you have to be sensible financially and all of that stuff. I heard loads of horror
stories. When I told people I was having a third, lots of people were like, "Are you
crazy?" But, actually, I'm in it. Yes, we have our good days and we have our bad days,
but I absolutely love it. I'm really lucky that I have a supportive husband who could
help me with school runs and things like that, but I absolutely love it and I wouldn't change
it for the world. Don't obviously go into it naively being like, "Emily told me it would
be fine." I'm not saying that. I'm saying it's hard work, but it's worth it.
I think trying to be as calm as possible and as patient as possible obviously helps. Having
a sense of humor as well is essential in our house because there were lots of times where
I probably could have cried, but I have laughed instead, if you know what I mean. I think
you do have to definitely be able to like chill.
You cannot be OCD. There is going to be a lot of mess. I like to have a clean house,
but I've kind of given up. Now that there are three kids, I think it's fine. In 10 years,
I'll get like my show home back. But until then, we're just going to have to expect that,
yes, there is going to be pen on a wall, there's going to be food on the floor, it is going
to be a bit messy. We have three kids under five.
Yeah, anyway, I hope this video wasn't too babbly and chatty for you. I hope you got
something from it and enjoyed it. Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you soon.
Bye.