Coping with 3

Everyone seems to or will end up asking - how are you going to cope with 3? 3 is the Magic Difficulty Number (MDN), it seems.



Actually there are two MDNs and they are 1 and 2. Anything beyond that is not an MDN - unless of course you get triplets - in which case nothing applies, you're on your own.



MDN 1 = This is the first child, which makes all new parents nervous and jittery. How do you deal with a screaming baby who doesn't want to calm down. Is he/she sick? Dirty? Sick and dirty? How come he/she is not screaming any more? Is he/she sick? Tired? Sick and tired? How do you get enough sleep to cope with this new bundle-of-wails during the day? These and the countless other problems are enough to drive new parents up the wall and put a smirk on the more experienced ones looking on: "Heh heh heh - enjoy it while it lasts!"



MDN 2 = At this point, you've mastered the art of taking care of a single child. One crying child, one dirty bottom, one monster making you pull your hair out. Yes, but one. It's easy to focus on one. But how do you deal with 2? Will #1 get jealous? Will #1 secretly destroy the TV when #2 is being bathed, changed, put to sleep? Will they wake each other up in a vicious circle by crying, talking, singing at night? How does one divide attention among two attention seeking little children that have little control over their emotion.



MDN 3 = does not exist. You've made it past 2, so 3, 4, 5, 14 is a breeze. #1 should be old enough, and even then, a good spanking and telling off will calm the mischievous delinquent. Besides, he/she should be in school right? If nothing else fails, #1 and #2 would be busy entertaining themselves and discussing serious matters like how Dora and Boots should get to the Big Fiesta or who from High-5 is cooler, Nathan or Kelly.



So, that's my theory - maybe Celest doesn't agree. Let's see.