This Happened

Sunday morning I woke up at 8:03am. I can’t quite remember the last time I slept until 8am. I thought my husband had gotten up with the girls, but then I realized he was still snoozing too.

I walked downstairs and found my girls content on the couch. Emma had put on a show for Morgan and she was doing Lexia on the iPad.

What might not seem like a big deal was monumental to me. We had graduated out of the baby years.

My babies were able to get up and entertain themselves until we got up. I might have had a tear come to my eye. No, not tears of sadness, tears of JOY.

Life with little kids is so intense, physically and emotionally. Raising newborns to walking/talking humans takes a LOT of hard work.

The first year was a sleep-deprived blur to me, one of those times where I often ask myself, “how did we get through that?”  The second year was spent hunched over chasing and redirecting my walking explorer to keep them from eating something they shouldn’t or pulling the entire roll of toilet paper down the hall.

The third year gets a little easier, but there are still those irrational moments because they want what they want and now can express it. Then when we got to the somewhat easier third year with my oldest, we started all over again with little sister, so the process repeated.

So when I ask myself if I miss those years, my answer is…heeeeellllll nooooooo! I wouldn’t change it for the world and I cherish the sweet memories, but I don’t miss them because it feels so GOOD to be at this next stage.

Because life with a 4 1/2 and 7 1/2 year old is dramatically easier. Being a parent is never totally easy, but it feels like my husband and I can breathe again.  We can go out and leave our kids with a babysitter, and there are no lists of instructions. There are no diapers, bottles, strollers, nap schedules.

I can get together with friends and the kids will run off and play together so I can actually have conversations again.  

And, I also love having conversations with my girls.

I love the fact we left the movie “Frozen” and they were both filled with so many questions, we analyzed the storyline for an hour together. I love seeing the people they are becoming. They have always been who they are, out of the womb, but it is really fun watching them become more of who they are supposed to be.

They are so different, it’s fascinating to me.

Now I know the tween and teen years will present its own set of challenges, but in parenting when you are in a moment of time when things are GOOD, you have to really appreciate it, which is why I am writing this post.

So, if you are chasing around a toddler this morning, and are still IN IT, on your most exhausting of days, just know that there will be a time down the road where you will find yourself realizing you have also graduated.

But only when you have put in the hard work and long days can you fully appreciate your graduation day.

I love you moms, keep up the good work.

How about you? What stage are you in?