When I Wasn't Looking

Despite being home with my kids all day every day and being very involved in their lives, there are things that happen when I'm not looking. Here are a few:

- The twins unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper and put it into the toilet...twice. This plays into the wise piece of advice: if you hear your toddler in the bathroom say "uh-oh", RUN, don't walk, to the scene of the crime.

- The big boys decided that playing tag in the dark basement was a good idea. The huge gash and black eye that ensued when G tripped during said game stated otherwise.

- M turned 10. Where did those years go?

- The babes decided that having picked up toys (even for a few minutes) is overrated.

- The laundry started to procreate.

- The babes are nursing less and talking more.

- My kids got really smart and started asking me more and more questions that I can't answer off the top of my head which result in me stating "I'll have to look it up". i.e., Armageddon over breakfast the other day.

- My babies aren't babies anymore. Any of them.

- C decided that he's old enough (being 2 years and 2 months) to pee standing up. Yeah. That's a good idea.

- G became a math whiz and now tells me to the minute how long we have until the next scheduled event. Odd seeing as how he's the person in the family with the worst time-management skills...but he can tell you exactly how late he is!

- M is showing signs of adolescence. He's no longer up at the crack of dawn and can be seen reading in bed every night instead of playing his way to his bed like he used to.

There are so many things that we as parents can't see because we do spend so much time with our kids. We can't see them growing; we only see that their pants get short. We can't see them maturing; we only look back and remember when. And sometimes it's hard to see from up close that they're growing into fine young people and eventually into fine adults. We just have to trust that the input is going to result in a good outcome at some point and it will probably happen when we're not looking.

A New Year and a New Bed

Last night, my babies slept in their own room for the first time ever. S did very well but he's used to sleeping in that room during naps. It happened to be the 2nd night in a rown that he slept all night. Awesome. C is currently back to nursing most of the night and last night was no exception. I was able to be in my own bed with just my husband for a few hours before being called to duty. It's definitely going to be a process but I know I'm ready for it and I hope they play ball. We had originally planned for them to transition to matresses on the floor of our room but we failed to consider that they might actually believe that my bed is their bed and that being on the floor would not be a good second option for them. We learned that one the interesting way! So for now, I'm going to be happy to sleep baby-less in my own bed for at least a few hours a night and hopefully, it will be more as time goes on. I'm kind of surprised that I'm so ready for this but I am. I've been thinking about it and slowly moving toward it for several weeks and now that it's here, I'm prepared and at peace with it. It's time.

This is a lesson that I have learned over and over again in my mothering journey: if things are hard and you feel like you're fighting all the time, the time isn't right. Stop fighting and be where you are. You can work toward your goal but jumping in may not be the right answer for right now. At some point, you'll try something and it will be easy for you. That means you're ready. It can be very challenging to be patient, be present and be at peace with the way things are right now but in the end, it's always worth taking your time and going at the pace that is right for you and your babies. It's all a process. Be in it.