Well…after the last post of woe-is-me, it's toooooo hard being a parent….I thought maybe I should look at the opposite. All the great things about being a parent. Now, I have been told and I think it is true..I was born to be a mommy. I can't pass up the opportunity to pick up a kid and give them a cuddle. At day care, all my little "friends" come up to me and want hugs and kisses (my own children usually just ignore me when I say goodbye, despite the chorus' of goodbyes from the other friends…). I still have to go into the Infant Room and get my baby fix, even though my kids have long outgrown that room. If we weren't so poor, and my husband would divorce me…I would have even more kids. I would go for triplets this time…twins were too easy. Bring it!
Their sweet little hands and feet. I am a sucker for baby feet…playing with them when they curl their toes around, and tickling them. I love their little one-tooth smiles…I even love their bottom lip pouts when they are not getting their way. The big crocodile tears that (usually) are so easily fixed with a some hugs and tickles. A favorite trick with the toddler and older set when they are pouting and sad is I say "There better not be any smiles in there….there better not be any smiles in there!"….guaranteed they smile and laugh despite struggling to maintain the pout. How easy would it be to march up to an enemy in war and say…"There better not be any smiles in there…." and solve the world problems. That would be nice.
I love how easy it is to make them happy…it's the little things. Sometimes your first reaction is the standard "No"…you really don't have a good reason not to let them do whatever, but that is just what came out first. I have to stop myself and say, is it really that big of a deal? Why couldn't I just have said "yes"? I then make a big show and debate over the issue and all the while they are standing there, holding their breath, waiting with big round eyes for me to "decide"…..and then I say…"Yes, you may". You would have thought they won the lottery what with all the jumping and clapping and squealing. Of course, now that my son is 6, he tries to catch himself before doing all that and replaces it with a "Sweet", pulling his elbow back in that cool kid motion.
Cake for Breakfast. Enough said. I think I have maybe let him have cake for breakfast twice. One time he asked and I said yes, and one time I suggested it. Both times he nearly fainted dead on the floor. He still talks about it…he can tell you what kind of cake, what day it was, what he was wearing, where we sat to eat it, what the Dow Jones average was and what was playing on TLC. Something so small and trivial can have the biggest impact. I have never felt so good about something and that is a moment I too will always remember. And then there are the boo-boo cuddles. When they are not really hurt, but they lay their head on your shoulder, still crying, but give you little pats. You stroke their hair, rock them back and forth and sing them your special song. A kiss from mommy on the boo-boo and in a split second, they are magically cured and off and running. My favorite boo-boo story was when my oldest son fell and hurt his bum-bum. He came to find me, turned around and presented his bum and said he needed a boo-boo kiss. He was about 3, and very serious. What's a Mommy to do? Of course I gave him a kiss, laughing all the time, and sent him on his way, magically cured as always.
I am continually amazed at their development. Watching them grow from a tiny infant, to a never still toddler, to a (almost) big boy 6 year old is like a live-in science / social experiment. How quick and fast they learn. That is one of my greatest joys; being able to teach them something new and watch as they try it out. Each "I did it!" exclamation fills me with the same sense of accomplishment.
Hugs and kisses, silly dances, made up songs, playing and sharing with each other, boo-boo kisses, tickle fights, falling asleep in your arms, watching butterflies and birdies flying, reading stories, playing chase me, cake for breakfast, unconditional love…….
xox
Kerri
Their sweet little hands and feet. I am a sucker for baby feet…playing with them when they curl their toes around, and tickling them. I love their little one-tooth smiles…I even love their bottom lip pouts when they are not getting their way. The big crocodile tears that (usually) are so easily fixed with a some hugs and tickles. A favorite trick with the toddler and older set when they are pouting and sad is I say "There better not be any smiles in there….there better not be any smiles in there!"….guaranteed they smile and laugh despite struggling to maintain the pout. How easy would it be to march up to an enemy in war and say…"There better not be any smiles in there…." and solve the world problems. That would be nice.
I love how easy it is to make them happy…it's the little things. Sometimes your first reaction is the standard "No"…you really don't have a good reason not to let them do whatever, but that is just what came out first. I have to stop myself and say, is it really that big of a deal? Why couldn't I just have said "yes"? I then make a big show and debate over the issue and all the while they are standing there, holding their breath, waiting with big round eyes for me to "decide"…..and then I say…"Yes, you may". You would have thought they won the lottery what with all the jumping and clapping and squealing. Of course, now that my son is 6, he tries to catch himself before doing all that and replaces it with a "Sweet", pulling his elbow back in that cool kid motion.
Cake for Breakfast. Enough said. I think I have maybe let him have cake for breakfast twice. One time he asked and I said yes, and one time I suggested it. Both times he nearly fainted dead on the floor. He still talks about it…he can tell you what kind of cake, what day it was, what he was wearing, where we sat to eat it, what the Dow Jones average was and what was playing on TLC. Something so small and trivial can have the biggest impact. I have never felt so good about something and that is a moment I too will always remember. And then there are the boo-boo cuddles. When they are not really hurt, but they lay their head on your shoulder, still crying, but give you little pats. You stroke their hair, rock them back and forth and sing them your special song. A kiss from mommy on the boo-boo and in a split second, they are magically cured and off and running. My favorite boo-boo story was when my oldest son fell and hurt his bum-bum. He came to find me, turned around and presented his bum and said he needed a boo-boo kiss. He was about 3, and very serious. What's a Mommy to do? Of course I gave him a kiss, laughing all the time, and sent him on his way, magically cured as always.
I am continually amazed at their development. Watching them grow from a tiny infant, to a never still toddler, to a (almost) big boy 6 year old is like a live-in science / social experiment. How quick and fast they learn. That is one of my greatest joys; being able to teach them something new and watch as they try it out. Each "I did it!" exclamation fills me with the same sense of accomplishment.
Hugs and kisses, silly dances, made up songs, playing and sharing with each other, boo-boo kisses, tickle fights, falling asleep in your arms, watching butterflies and birdies flying, reading stories, playing chase me, cake for breakfast, unconditional love…….
xox
Kerri
