SOLITARY SANITY

The surprisingly relaxed manner in which Erich and Sally parent is evident and inspiring. Rather than being frazzled and stressed by the constant onslaught of needs, Erich approaches it all with his typical chill demeanor. Sally, having the ability to embrace the crazy with humor and wit, attributes her own calmness to Erich and Lexapro. “Well, being married to him has calmed me down. He almost never gets flustered, much less stressed. And, I mean, let’s be honest, I’m on anxiety meds, and I’m not ashamed to say it.” After a few desperate months of feeling like she was going crazy, Sally wisely and bravely sought the help of her doctor. She’s been able to enjoy the wild ride and never-ending demands of motherhood so much more ever since. “Also, we quickly realized that to maintain household peace we needed “solitary zones” where a baby can cry in a safe place.” Outfitting two bedrooms as such, with Pack ‘n Plays, blankies and stuffed animals, has helped everyone retain their sanity, especially during various late-night crying fits, Kit’s colicky stage, and Virgil’s daily late afternoon meltdowns. The entire downstairs family room of their bi-level, in turn, has been transformed into a beautiful large nursery area, housing four cribs (all donated by teachers and painted white), four matching changing tables, video monitors, stuffed animals and beautiful photography of the babies and big sister Elsie.

So does any part of this journey bring Sally and Erich to their wits end?

For Erich, the spatial disorder is tough: “It’s really hard to keep things orderly at home with four babies and a toddler, especially now that the babies can move around. We can’t keep up.” And for Sally, “Just not being able to give them all the attention they need. I wish we could give them each as much attention as they need and deserve. That’s hard for me. But the worst part so far was when they all got their bottom two front teeth at the same time. It was horrible. Screaming, crying, sleepless nights, fevers, diaper rash, ear infections … they all had it all. Now we feel like, ‘Well, we made it through that so we can make it through anything.’”

And of course, together they will. From teething to potty training to kindergarten to driver’s licenses to graduations — one minute at a time, one hour at a time, one day at a time, surrounded by their incredible cheer section, Team Richardson will make it through. From rivals to co-coaches of their best team yet, Team Richardson, party of seven, is swimming towards victory.

TO READ MORE OF THE RICHARDSON’S ADVENTURES, see Sally’s blog at fargoquads.com. [