I recently read a blog post on a new blog I’ve found called Skinny and Single. In the post, she spoke about her (now grown up) children and all of the annoying and cute things that she would never get to see them do again.
There was another post that I read a while ago, on a similar theme, but I completely can’t remember which blog it was so if you’re reading this, whoever you are, please don’t think I’m plagiarising you!
Anyway, I was reading this list of things that children eventually grow out of and, if I’m honest, I got completely sentimental and started to well up! It reminded me that I am all too guilty of wishing my children’s lives away.
I spend huge portions of my time looking forward to some precious “me” time. I can’t wait until the children are safely tucked up in bed and I can watch my tv, read my books, get my housework done – whatever it is that I consider is more important than spending time with my kids.
As I read this post, I realised that Moogle is nearly 5 years old. Her little life is flying past and in the blink of an eye she’ll be a big girl who doesn’t need mummy anymore.
Soon, she won’t be asking for piggy backs up to the bath. She won’t be wanting help with her sticker books, to make sure she doesn’t rip the stickers. She won’t be asking me to watch her little shows that she likes to put on in the living room. She won’t be crying at 3am and climbing into bed for mummy snuggles.
And as for Bug – she’s nearly 2 now. Her baby days are disappearing before my eyes as each morning she is a little bigger. She’s learning to talk and her confidence and capability grows every day. It won’t be long and she won’t be bouncing on my knee playing “Horsey, horsey”. She’ll stop dragging me off the sofa for another round of “Ring-a-ring-a-roses”. Soon, I won’t have to get up early in the morning with her to watch 4 episodes of Sofia the First before work and who knows how many more times I will get to play tickle time while changing nappies.
I admit, more than most, that parenting can be hard, and testing and even occasionally downright boring. But my days as an active mummy are numbered. In the blink of an eye I will have two teenage girls who will spend all their time in their rooms, or with friends, and I won’t be the centre of their lives any more. I will have plenty of “me” time when my little chicks leave the nest.
I need to stop thinking that I have something more urgent, more important to do than spend time with my little babies.
Everything else can wait…their childhood certainly won’t.