A post from Dad

One of my good friends, Ben, said that I should post something from Dad's perspective so this is a post from Seth and not Denise and I can pretty much guarantee that it will be random. (All opinions expressed in this post are those of Seth and do not necessarily represent those of the blog owner).

Like Denise, I am extremely thankful for our wonderful kids, especially our newest little monkey, Nash. We are so very blessed to have 4 kids after just 8 years of marriage. Whenever we decide it's time to try to get pregnant, we get pregnant. I am not trying to rub it in anyone's face who struggles or who has struggled to have children. I think that would be one of the hardest things to deal with and my heart goes out to those couples who have that trial. Our trial is not getting pregnant, it's dealing with the kids when we have them.

Parenting is pretty different than I expected. My little brother was born when I was 14 so I experienced a lot of "parenting" as he grew up. I changed diapers, babysat, took him to hang out with my friends and bought him some sweet little Air Jordans. With all of this experience I thought I had a pretty good handle on parenting. I was wrong about a lot of it.


The thing I was most surprised about was how some people treat families out in public. We get some amazing looks while we struggle through stores. Many people are sweet and they comment on how cute our kids are or how blessed we are. Some people are not sweet. Denise almost went to blows with a lady who got frustrated with my kids in the aisle of Walmart because they were not getting out of her way fast enough. Dude you're shopping at Walmart, there's going to be moms with kids who like to save money so deal with it. Denise also tried to get a lady fired at Hobby Lobby when she was rude to our kids after they dinged the bell a few times. Hey, if you don't want us ringing your bell turn around and help us when we ring it the first time. Some people are not trying to be rude, they just make funny comments or ask amusing questions. Below is a list of comments/questions that we get almost every time we go out (followed by what I would like to say in response):

• Wow, are they all yours? (Nope, we stole them from a couple that looks just like us. Did you not notice how all of them are carbon copies of us? Yes they are all ours and we chose to have all of them. And yes we know how contraceptives work.)



• Well you've got quite a handful don't you? (Nope it's easy managing 4 little kids all under 7. Why don't you come over to my house sometime at around 6:00pm to see if we have our hands full)



• Oh, you're little girls must be twins! (Nope, we had them 16 months apart; on purpose. And we had the other two on purpose as well)



• Is this your first time taking that little one out in public? (No, you might be shocked to know when we first brought him "out in public")

I realize that not everyone who makes one of these comments are judging us, but it sure seems like it. (Have you noticed that I have an attitude? Have you asked yourself how Denise can stand being with me? I have asked myself that same question.) I love it when we walk down the aisle in the supermarket and see another mom or dad struggling with their kids. I am not happy for them and I don't judge them, but I am happy to see that we're not the only ones struggling with our kids.

Random thoughts that I have about parenting:

• Denise and I decided early in our parenthood not to hit/spank/slap/punch/kick/etc. our kids.



• I never knew how hard it would be not to hit/spank/slap/punch/kick your kids.



• Sometimes I flick my kids in the mouth when they sass or yell or say something inappropriate. And I justify this as not hitting how?



• Why do kids wake up screaming in the middle of the night? I didn't do that, did I? I thought screaming at night ended when they turn 3.



• Hey McKay when did you decide to get an attitude? You're 6 years old and for the past 5.5 years of your life you were the sweetest thing ever.



• I never knew how much liquid 3 kids could spill. I have to think about "not crying over spilled milk" all of the time and I often fail. Except I don't cry, I yell.



• Don't pray to ask Heavenly Father if you should try to have a baby unless you're ready to have a baby because the answer is almost always "Yes".



• I thought all new parents worried about germs, but Denise and I never really have. There's a list out there about your first baby versus your third. I think one of them talks about sanitizing the binky with the first baby when it falls on the floor versus picking it out of the dirt and putting it back in the third baby's mouth. Well, we've almost never sanitized anything after it falls on the floor and our kids have been very healthy (knock on wood).

I know this post does not hold a candle to my wonderful wife's posts and I promise not to impose on her blog too much in the future. I am very grateful for our life. I have an incredible wife. She is very patient with me. She lets me do pretty much whatever I want. She loves watching sports and cooking and taking care of my kids. She is the greatest wife/mom combo anywhere (no offense to you other mom/wives out there).

And after reading Denise's last post I will plan a nice long nap for her when I get home. Babies are very tiring...