OUR FOUR GIRLS

I get asked here and there what it’s like to have four kids, and the runner-up Q is always, “What it’s like to have four GIRLS?” A one-gender family is semi-rare; we turn heads but, then again, we always find other “girl families.” It’s fun. A lot of fun. As much as I’d love to duplicate Ryan in little-boy form and raise him to be my forever boyfriend, I hit the jackpot with having four girls. I love my girls. I also love raising girls. I love the hair, the pink, the clothes, the drama! No but really, so long as it’s not sassy-at-mom drama, I get the biggest kick out of the intense feelings girls have and how they express them in the craziest ways. Mostly because it’s like looking in a mirror, haha. I totally get where my girls are coming from when they have their super highs and random lows. “It me,” for lack of a better term (and for better or for worse 😉 ).

My most frequently asked question about raising four girls so far is “How are they different?” For the longest time, I used to fumble for the right words in response – ones that best described each girl because my girls are all so different. Then once while talking to a neighbor, who again, asked “How are your girls’ personalities different?” I started to tell a little tale…

If I told Olivia to not touch a hot stove, she would respond with a “Why?”

“Because it’s hot,” I’d say.

“Well why is it hot?”

“Um – because it is?”

“Well but WHY is it HOT?”

“Because there is an electrical current underneath the surface of the stove that flows to the connecting coil which then heats up the metal, creating a fiery, burning sensation to human touch.”

“Mmm got it. That is sooo interesting…”

If I told Claire to not touch a hot stove, she would look up from the table where she’d be working on her current project (Sis always has a “current project”) and say, “Okay,” and then she would proceed to create a poster about not touching a hot stove. She’d draw, cut and color, and title the masterpiece, ‘Do Not Touch A Hot Stove” (after I slowwwwly spelled out the entire sentence for her) and et voila! – Claire would have another finished project.

If I told Emmy not to touch a hot stove, Emmy would lock eyes with me – starring, intently – and then little by little, inch by inch, a tiny Emmy hand would begin to creep upward, then outward, ever so slowly, until BAM! Emmy, in the face of a flat out “no,” would touch that hot stove.

If I told Chloe to not touch a hot stove, well, TBD. But something tells me that our fourth little girl might be our spiciest yet. I mean, can you see the intensity in those baby blues?? 🙂 Sis has a flare to her that is ever unfolding and I can’t wait for this girl’s personality to pop.

You see? So different. And I can’t imagine them being any other way, both individually and collectively. What would we do without our intellectual leader or our calming creator or our vibrant entertainer or our cuddly Koala bear? Our girls are a sweet, sweet little team. Some competition is part of the game in an all-girl family, but we’re channeling the competition into outlets outside of each other, and we’ve taught the girls to see how much they compliment each other. And to see how powerful it is to cheer your sisters on, especially when one sister is having special success. So far, so good (but I’m so aware that we have yet to live a lot of life together 🙂 ). I’m also working hard at fostering best friendships between the girls. When we’re out with lot of friends, like at the beach, or even when we’re with cousins, our phrase is “Be your sister’s hero.” It reminds the girls to check in on their sisters and make sure they’re okay – feeling included and seen by each other. It’s a life fact that friends come and go; even best friends, at times, don’t show up for you. But your sisters? Sisters are cemented at your side. They’re part of who you are! Sisters are your best friends.

MY FOUR GIRLS. I cannot believe they’re mine!

I never envisioned myself being a straight-up Girl Mom, but I’m here for it. One-thousand times over, I am so happy to be a girl mom. I am so happy to be their mom!

And how about that Girl Dad? Ryan was made for having a girl brigade. The intense emotions just don’t phase him. Actually he gets the biggest kick of all from watching our feelings yo-yo around here. Our girls are dang lucky to have him. And man, how the sense of feeling so blessed is mutual. Mine and Ryan’s nightly prayer together eventually always circles back to “the girls” and that they’re ours, and that we can’t believe it, and that we need help (!!) raising them because they really are ours on earth, and that all in all, we’re so grateful for them.

Raising you is such a thrill, our four girls!!!!

XOXO, Mom (and Dad 🙂 )