The kids have been a handful lately. It seems when one difficult stage ends yet another begins. Gone are the days of bottles, dirty diapers, carrying a baby on each hip, no verbal communication, and total dependence. I thought that was supposed to be the tough age. HA!
Now we are in the stage of complete Independence....of so the kids think. They want to do everything by themselves but in the end they end up asking a million questions and making 3X the mess it would have taken to have had a parent's help.
The stage where they insist on walking everywhere ( we no longer own a stroller) and when the last loop of the zoo rolls around they are too tired to make it to the car under their own power. Try carrying two toddlers on your hips - I want my 15 lb babies back! lol
Diapers may be behind us but the laundry has not diminished. I have a little girl who reminds me daily that she is related to my little sister Holly by ALOT! She changes her clothes multiple times a day- heaven forbid that she be seen with a mustard stain on her dress or even worse Popsicle drips on her socks. She is amazing and hilarious and I lover her but some days she pushes the envelope of what a parent can tolerate. : )
Some days I long for the time when there was no sound in the house but that of a sleeping baby. Now I am bombarded from every direction when I walk in the door at night. Once they learned the dreaded phrase "excuse me mom" I decided I wanted to change my title. I love hearing them talk on the phone to grandparents and sing songs when they think no one is paying attention but some days I would give just about anything for a sound proof room ( for me to sit in).
All that being said I had one of the best mornings helping them create finger paintings for each set of grandparents. I hate that I have missed out on so many projects with them in the past 3 yrs. They deserve to have a mom around them a little more. I am looking for a teaching/aid type job for this coming fall and would love it if I was able to have all the same days off as they have so we can re-connect again.
I so know what you mean about the noise! I need quiet time to recharge but rarely get it (what Mom does?). So far I just like that they continue to get older, even if new challenges come along.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can get more time with them once your time in the Army is done. I'm sure they've enjoyed having so much time with Jake, but it will be nice for all of you to have more family time!