Why are kids so cute? Don’t get me wrong. Most of the time they are rotten little twerps, but then they turn on the charm so fast and I melt. It’s horrible. I think every parent has this issue at some point or another.
Take this for an example. Half an hour ago, I put the two boys down for a nap. They have been such buttheads lately about napping that I have gotten to the point of putting them both in my bed and sitting at the end of the bed while I’m working to make sure they aren’t goofing off. Is this normal?! Please tell me that someone else has had this problem! The girls never really had an issue with laying down when told. Even when they shared a room, I could just tell them to lay down and go to sleep, and they would lay there quietly. The boys… Ha! That’s a joke now!!
They were both in my bed, goofing off. I had to get after them a few times before they realized they were about to be on mom’s black list. Once they finally laid still, they were out cold within about thirty seconds. And then they turned cute again! They always look so sweet and nice when they are sleeping. They were peacefully sleeping. Not trying to kill each other. Not trying to incite a riot within the siblings. Just peacefully sleeping with a quiet little snore coming from each of them.
Is this God’s way of helping the human race continue?? If kids were terrors 100% of the time, would people even think twice about having kids?? I doubt it!! I think these sweet, quiet times are God’s way of giving parents a break and letting us see why we wanted kids in the first place.
I know this is just a stage in life. It’s one more thing that I will look back on when the kids are grown and wish I could hear those tiny snores again. Everyone always tells me that the time goes so quickly. I never really understood that I guess until I became a mom. I know time doesn’t miraculously speed up as soon as you have kids. A minute is still 60 seconds. I still have the same amount of time in a day, but I see what these people intend to say. Time does go so quickly.
It seems like I blinked and I have lost the last 10 years. I look back at when I was pregnant with my oldest. She was such an amazing blessing at that time in my life. I was lonely and sad. She came along and made my life immeasurably better. We moved 1,000 miles from home when I was pregnant with her. I didn’t know a single person there. I was completely on my own. My husband was working and going to school. I rarely saw him. I started working not too long after we got there, but I still felt alone. I didn’t know any of my coworkers either. I did make friends, but it wasn’t the same as having family close by during some of the biggest moments of your life. But then, Laiyla was born. She made all the difference.
But, I still don’t understand how I have been a mom for 10 years already. How does that even happen?? Where does the time go? She is now so independent that it scares me. She will make lunch for herself and the boys without even asking me. She does so many things on her own now. There are too many to list. At first, it made me excited. I thought it might help free up some of my time during the day. And it does do that. But it also makes me a little sad. My first baby is so grown up now!
But through all of this, the daily tasks and inconveniences, I have learned something. I’m sure I still have way more to learn, but this one thing I have learned. This hard stage with the boys, this terror-ridden, havoc-wreaking stage will soon be over. There are days where I don’t think it will be over soon enough, but it will soon end. Just like all the baby stages have passed with my oldest, these boys will very soon be past the stage of needing me for every single little thing. I know I get frustrated and stressed now, but soon, I will wish for these days. These are the days that everyone looks back on and wishes for. Even if it’s just for one more time. One more time to watch them sleep and listen to the snores. One more time of having to wash the pillow cases because one of them drooled all over them because they insisted on snuggling with me. One more time of watching their tiny, bright eyes light up when I put the brownies on their plates. One more time. Just one more time.
I try so hard to ingrain these images into my brain so I can keep them for later. I know they won’t all stick in my memory bank, but I’m trying to keep as many as possible. I will need them once they are all grown and want to have these days back just one more time.
Mommas and Daddies, hold those babies close. Snuggle them just a little longer. Play with them for the extra few minutes they are begging from you. Give them another hug and kiss. Make them feel like they are the most important thing in the world. Listen to that story they want so badly to tell you. You never know when they will grow up. It seems to happen over night.
I know that’s how I feel. I wish I would have spent more time listening and playing with them. There are times when I wish I would have made different decisions in how I did things when they were little. I also know I can’t go back and start over. That’s not how life works. But, I can start fresh now. I want to make more time for the important people in my life. I want to spend time with my children and actually be there with them. Not thinking about work or what I wanted to get done. Not checking my phone and email fifty times. Yes, that will constantly be a battle I will need to fight, but God can, and will, help me. He knows what we need and how to accomplish those needs. I pray God gives me the grace to be able to do this. Not just for me, but for my kids. And it will eventually impact my grandkids someday. My kids will see the difference in me, and that will trickle into how they parent when they get to that age. I want to make sure I’m doing my part in raising decent, Godly children and grandchildren. I pray God allows me to do just that.
Have a great week, everyone.
Imperfection At Its Finest 