My son and parents lied.

My parents raised three kids, my older sister, myself, and my baby brother. It looked so easy I decided I wanted at least two of my own. I mean, if my parents, who had my sister fairly young could do it, why couldn't i? Yes, we got punished and pushed our limits but my parents still made it look easy.
When I had my son just a few months shy of my 19th birthday I felt alright about it. He was so easy! He rarely cried, at least for me. Slept through the night starting at a very young age. He was just easy. Even my pregnancy and delivery was easy. I never felt overwhelmed with him. Gabriel was truly an angel.
Then came my second child, Athena. From the moment I found out I was pregnant with her I knew I would have my hands full. Severe morning sickness, everything gave me heartburn, seriously, everything. Labor was short with her but she came out screaming like a banshee. She cried, a lot. It seemed like all the time. She made the terrible twos look like a cakewalk, she redefined them in fact. She lived up to her namesake.
Then, lastly, came Illyana. Russian princess, Colossus' sister and ruler of purgatory on the X-Men. (Yes, I am a geek) I didn't think morning sickness could get worse than what I had with Athena but Illy proved me wrong. She took away the one thing I love the most...brewed coffee. I could only drink instant...*gag*. I had 8 hours of excruciating back labor with her, no drugs, that's kinda been my thing with pregnancies, no drugs! It felt like someone beat me for 8 hours with a baseball bat. I actually begged for an epidural but it was too late. She came out fairly easy, little crying.
Now here is where the fun comes in...my kids are now 14, 11, and 7. Gabriel is still easy. He just is happy with whatever. Athena has an attitude and temper. Illyana has serious baby issues. The girls fight constantly and usually ends with Illy crying to me because her sister punched her. Then I have to scold both of them. Nothing is working with them. My fiancé says that Illy is so stubborn even her hair won't grow straight. They test my patience all the time. I do my best. But I still think my parents and son lied to me. This parenting thing is hard! Not for the faint of heart. Seriously.
To be fair, it's not the girls fault, we have had a rough life. My son lives with his father and the girls don't see theirs. I raised them for two years by myself, during which time I worked and went to school. Four days a week for over a year they spent 14 hours a day in daycare so I could try to build a better life for us. For my sanity I would have a night or two a month where either their memere or great aunt would take them overnight so I pretend I was a normal person, not fully defined by being a mom or student or worker. They are getting a little better as time goes by but there is still a lot of work to do. Day by day, I will get my kids to be great. They are already awesome in their own way, but there are some kinks to work out. This is so much harder than I ever imagined!