When you blink and they grow up right before your eyes
At one point I had four kids under five years old, so I know what it’s like to live in the trenches. Those are the days that revolve around changing diapers, preparing three meals and two snacks every day, watching your kids like a hawk 24 hours a day, and being just plain exhausted, as much from the monotony of it all as from the work itself.
But, take heart, mamas in the trenches, because having older kids is amazing. {And having older kids at the same times as babies is its own special brand of wonderful!}
A friend of mine has coined the phrase straddle parenting to describe these days of nursing and changing diapers alongside youth group orientation and piano recitals. We’re thinking about introducing solids and potty training one minute and leaving our oldest home by herself for the first time the next.
And while that creates its own challenges when it comes to meeting everyone’s individual needs, it’s also pretty amazing to see our kids growing up while we’re still raising babies because it gives me so much perspective on the younger years!
I assign schoolwork and the big girls can do most of it without any help from me.
They make donuts and baked oatmeal, scrambled eggs and naan pizzas, chicken parmesan and carrot souffle.
They scrub the toilets, do laundry from start to finish, sweep and vacuum.
They put away groceries, walk the dog, water the garden.
They can put on their own snow clothes and bathing suits (hallelujah!), fill their own water balloons, and carry their own ski gear.
The 11-year-old gives the 2-year-old a bath. The 10-year-old rocks the baby when he’s fussy. All four girls take turns babysitting during the day while I work.
They pack lunches and suitcases, set their own alarms, sign in for their own medical appointments.
They go outside to play for hours at a time, stopping in only to refill their water bottle or use the bathroom.
The understand sarcasm and humor at a whole new level, and we can discuss everything from faith to world events. Not to mention we read some of the same books now and have conversations about the plot lines and characters and what we think the author could have done differently.
We’re just entering adolescence, so our girls are in the sweet spot between the physical exhaustion of little kids and the emotional exhaustion of raising teens. And our home is chaotic and crazy and messy.
But in the midst of it all, it hits me at some point every day how different life is now from just a few years ago!
So hang in there, moms of littles—it gets easier and more fun with time. Keep doing the work of assigning chores and letting them “help” and teaching independence. One day you’ll look over and notice them getting ready to go outside all by themselves and it will hit you that they’re growing up!
For the days when dishes are piled up in the sink, you’re pulling clean underwear out of the drier for your potty training toddler, your kids need a bath (and a haircut, too), and dinner is looking like scrambled eggs (again), Stephanie and Beth are offering an honest, candid and incredibly encouraging FREE video series just for moms. It’s called “The Truth About #MomFail Culture: 10 Things You Need to Hear on the Hard Days.”
Stephanie and Beth are not only popular bloggers, but they’re also moms in the trenches. They’ve got 8 kids and almost 20 years of mothering experience between them, and they want you to know two things:
You are not a failure. Most of us feel this way far more than we ever admit.
All the ways you failed?? How awful you did today or last week? It’s just not true. You’re doing better than you think.
The series won’t solve all your problems, and much as they wish they could, they can’t reach through the computer and fold that Mount Laundry for you. But we can all benefit from a fresh perspective and encouragement from someone who really gets it.
Each video is short – around 10 minutes, and you can watch it on any sort of device and whenever you’ve got a few spare minutes.
Click here to access this video series today. (Just enter your name and email to sign up. You’ll get access to the first video today, and then one per day after that!)
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