I am an over achiever, aka Baby Bunchers Unite!

So I heard of this site, called Baby Bunching. I read it, thinking "What the heck is a baby buncher? I was picturing the rodeo where you see the cowboys roping. Is it someone who uses a lasso to tie a bunch of kids together?

Well, Sort of.

Baby Bunching is having two kids in two years or less. All you have to do to be a Baby Buncher is be crazy enough to have your children that close together.

Well, I like to belong to things. I like belonging...apparently I spent too much time as a loner when I was a teenager, just wishing I fit in (sidenote: I wasn't actually a loner, I just remember it that way. Revisionist history).

Anyway, this is an awesome site about a couple of Mama's who have their kids close to one another, who are writing a book about it, and collecting data from other bunching moms. But this is how crazy I am. I was reading about the age gap between their kids, and I thought "That's not that close together at all! Two kids in two years? That's like, forever apart! I guess that makes me like, a baby buncher squared, having 4 in 4 years. I love over achieving!"

Yes, having been through seeing that double blue line when I had a practically newborn crying quietly next to me as she watched her only childhood slip down the drain has apparently skewed my perspective. People laugh at me all the time when I talk about how worried I am about the huge age gap between TOK (The older kids) and Seth. In my head, it will be as if they are growing up in two seperate generations.

So, baby bunching. I'm a fan. A big enough fan to take it to an extreme level. In fact, the worst part for me has been being pregnant with a baby. I don't "do" pregnant well. I throw up a lot, they always jump ship early, and when people tell me about bringing their babies home from the hospital a couple days after birth, I always find myself staring at them with a slightly befuddled expression, before I remember that some babies do, in fact, leave with their parents.

But after the babies come home? Love it. In fact, people stop me now, saying how full my hands are, and I laugh incredulously. Having a 3 year old, a 4 year old, and a newborn is easy! The older two only need to be fed three times a day, AND they remind you if you forget! You can't beat that, people! Then of course, there is Seth, who is an angelic baby. He never cries, except to call my attention to the fact that it is time to feed him or time to swaddle him. Other than that, he lays around staring adoringly at me. It is awesome! Believe me, he is the only one staring at me in adoration these days...the older two are so over that!

Sometimes, I have my friend's baby Fisher with me, who is around the age Eli would be (20 months Friday), and even then, the kids are a blast. So go for it! Bunch your babies! Baby Bunchers Unite! I think very highly of it. =) In fact, some days, in between school drop off & pick up, Seth's audiology & speech therapy, the seventeen errands I run every day, the mess our house ends up in every night, and of course, the immense fundraiser we are preparing to launch, I think fondly of having another, feeling sorry for Seth that he doesn't have a built in twibling like TOK do. Then I remember that I don't even have time to shower most days, so he'll probably just have to live without that special comaraderie and sweet, sweet torture they inflict on one another every day.

Anyway, if you're crazy like me, Cara and Linda over at Baby Bunching want to hear from you! They are writing a book, you know! A book to help overwhelmed Mama's figure out how to grocery shop with one baby who just learning to walk and another who can't sit up yet. You know, and other important stuff. (If you answered "Stick the baby in a sling and put the toddler in the seat, you're right! But believe me, that idea doesn't even occur to most people. They're all about the baby in the carrier perched precariously on top of the cart while pulling another cart behind them with the toddler in it. Seriously. Saw it today. But I digress...)