10 Things You Miss When Your Kids Grow Up....

When your children are toddlers it is an exhausting and exhilarating time. If you are in this stage you probably are almost too tired to read this post. If you are beyond it you will know what I mean and if by chance you are not there yet or years away from it believe me you will eventually understand these things to be true.

[📸: The Pink Soapbox]

All of a sudden one day your kids grow up and out of the toddler or “kiddie” stage. Before you know it there are things that you miss that if you had known would end abruptly or how much you would miss them you would have savored them just that much more. There is usually no warning it just happens and boom, its over. Sometimes you know it is coming but it still feels like a shock to your soul when it actually happens.

You will probably miss all of these and wonder where the time went:

1) The last time your child runs to greet you when you walk in the door

2) The last time you put away their toys because they no longer love them or have moved on

3) The last time they want you to walk them in to school because they are “big“ now and don’t need you to do it anymore

4) The last time they are secretly excited to stay home from school sick because they get to spend the day with you

5) The last time they want you to meet them at school for lunch bringing their favorite meal

6) The last time they hug your neck and say the sweetest words in their little voices “I love you”

7) The last time they want you to tuck them in , read a bedtime story or stay with them just a few more minutes in their room before they fall asleep

8) The last time they give you a handmade holiday or Mother’s Day/Fathers Day gift

9) The last time you are the FIRST person they want to hang out with or do something fun with just the two of you

10) The last time you watch them walk away for the last first day of school their senior year

I heard someone say or read once that our children are really just on loan to us for a short period of time and we have a finite period to have them as our own. I think this is true. They grow up fast and fade in and out of many stages as they grow. Sometimes it happens in the blink of an eye so fast that you are just getting used to one stage and they are already moving on to the next.

When they move on and leave we never stop missing them. If you visited my home office you would see me surrounded by a picture collage of my kids’ early years, artwork from their elementary school days, notes they have written me and constant reminders of the early years with current pictures from the lives they are now living.. Nothing makes me feel closer to them when they are away than sitting at my desk looking around to remind me of the amazing journey parenting has taken me on over the years. They really were the best days. Thanks Bella & Nick ...XO

#StayCurious