Thursday, May 5, 2011

Another day in paradise

I was walking my youngest daughter to her church group the other day and we were talking about how little kids normally can't wait to get older and how grown-ups wished they were kids again. It seemed the older you got, the more responsibilities you have. Ironically, she said she wished she were a baby because they don't have to do anything. They just sleep, eat and cry.

This was the same daughter who always tells me when I take my girls to school, "don't say I love you to me when I open the door, it's embarrassing!" When my husband drove them to school, she said "don't say I love you to me when I open the door, it's embarrassing!" So, he rolls down the windows when she gets out of the car and yells her name and says, "I love you!" She turns bright red.

I about had a heart attack when my oldest said to me today, "Mom, tomorrow, I'm going to college!" Uh what? She meant for a field trip.

My kids lately have been seeing my husband and I kissing and hugging a lot and they give the normal response, "Yuck, so gross!" It was one evening when I was tucking them into bed, when I said "when your dad and I kiss, it means we love each other and it's a good thing, it is better than seeing us fight all the time, isn't it?" They both agreed.

On another afternoon, I'm picking my oldest daughter up from school, like I normally do. I park in the parking lot and wait for her. When she sees my car, she crosses the small parking lot over to my car. She's been doing this since January. Well this woman teacher, whom I think is a little pushy with the kids, is standing next to her and speaking to her. I see her turn red, she is embarrassed. The teacher starts walking over to my car and explains to me that I need to get out of the car and walk her across the parking lot. It's about 8'. I'm thinking, okay, my daughter is 10, she certainly knows how to cross a cross walk to get to me and besides don't tell me what to do and don't belittle my daughter. But, I heard my brother's voice in my head "just tell her what she want's to hear and do what you want instead. So, I said, "I understand, thank you!" I then told my daughter, "you've been walking over to me since January and you've never been caught, just keep doing it." My phone then rings, it's her old eye doctor, a phone call that I've been waiting for. I'm pulled over to the side of the road and I'm talking to him on my cell phone. Four minutes into the conversation, my daughter starts panicking! Right on her backpack, in the front seat with her, is a spider. She was having a major fit! I excused myself to the doctor and told her to go sit in the back!

I am also really bad about being woken up in the middle of the night. I always tell my kids to not wake me up unless there is a stranger in the house, it's on fire or they are bleeding from their eyeballs. I am mean, I know, but I can't help myself. I think it is from all those times they woke me up during the nursing stage. 2 kids=2 years of sleepless nights, yup no fun.

Being a parent means no sleep, fun times, fevers and colds, hugs and kisses, rolled eyes, milestone moments, dealing with boyfriends or girlfriends, lots of moments to defend your child, proud moments, not so proud moments, constant messes. But in a blink of an eye, they are grown up.....

Raising kids is hard, but mostly enjoyable; it's full of ups and down, tears and smiles. If your family is like mine, it looks like the clip below, spiders and all.

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