I witnessed it happen to my parents, and now it is happening to me.
I was one of the older kids and my parents were very strict with us. We were the guinea pigs of parenting; they tried it all out on us. Like no diver's license until we were like 52 1/2 or logged 1 million miles behinds the wheel with our permits, whichever came first. By the time my brother came along, 11 years later they had gone soft. Not only did he not have to wait until he was 52 1/2 to get his license, but they handed him the keys to his own vehicle when he was 16! Oh, the injustice!
Now it is starting to happen to me.
My husband and I have always enforced a very strict no-sleeping-in-our-bed policy: Our bed is off limits, period. If you have a verifiable nightmare, you may come in and sleep on the floor next to our bed, until such time as we deem it necessary to carry you back to your own bed. If you crawl in bed with us, we shall escort you back to your bed immediately upon our detection of your presence.
Our policy was pretty clear cut, and we enforced it - for a very long time. But guess who is laying in our bed between Dennis and I right now? Yep. Our baby Luke. He has made his way into our bed several nights a week for quite some time now... and I love it.
No, I don't love getting kicked in the head or slowly pushed to the edge of the bed. But I love the soft purr of his breath in my ear and cool warmth of his baby soft skin. I love the opportunity to steal a quick peck on the plump smooth cheek at any hour of the night, or wrap my arm around his smallish shoulders. I LOVE IT!
My baby will be turning three in 2 weeks, officially not a baby any more, and I am really beginning to panic about it! I just don't want to miss a moment of what is left of this amazing stage, including all those moments in the middle of the night.
As I write this, I keep stopping to smell his sweet skin, run my fingers through his floppy hair, trace the edges of his little ear with my finger (and wipe a tear from my eye). He stirs, lifts his head, finds me, then lays his warm head on my chest, trapping my arm, making it a bit hard to type. That's OK. Now I can bury my nose in his hair and breathe in whats left of the essence of baby... before it is gone forever.
Softie.
9 comments:
We haved the same strict policies but I am sure that when I have my last one I will probably do the same. It is so hard when it is your last.
By the way, I didn't have to wait to get my driver's license either. I didn't even know you guys did. Sorry.
Natalee, thats because you were one of the young ones. I was 18, which might as well have been 52 1//2.
The trick is to have them all close together so you really aren't more soft on one than the other. I guess that doesn't work when you have 6, unless you have them all at once.
Ayden just got a hair cut yesterday, and he looks so old. He will be 5 in a few months. Then in Sept. he will be in school. I am sure life will change. I will be sad that they are all in school, but it will be good. Embrace what you have now, knowing it will change, once it does, enjoy that. I feel excited for all the things I can do once all my kids are in school. I can go swimming in the middle of the day. I can go on a hike, or work out at the gym, I can paint all the rooms in my house. Really get my house, and garden in order. TAKE A NAP!!!!!!!!! Read a book, take a class, sew, crochet, make some jewelry, maybe get a master's degree. Of course I can't do it all at once. But I will have more time. I feel almost like I am retiring. Yes, I will miss my kids, but they will grow no matter how I feel, I might as well enjoy it.
Besides, I may end up homeschooling in a few years, so then I won't have my free time any more, so I am going to enjoy every minute of it while I have it. I have a small pang of sadness that they are growing up fast, but I am not focusing on it.
We abide by the same rules and policies but Maverick still invites himself in our bed as well. Maybe it's those March boys that charm us into snuggling in the night hours, or maybe we have become soft. Either way, the kicks in the head and nudges to the edge are welcome future memories!
Ok, Miss Queen of Exageration, Rick was 17 when he got his license(I think). I am sure glad you didn't bring up the pierced earring thingy. WHEW!
Why mom,
Is there some guilt there. Since you brought it up....Just kidding. I won't put you through more pain, I am sure you have been through enough guilt over the years for the pierced earring thing -I had to wait until I was 13, and everyone else got it the same day :( Just kidding!!!!!
No hard feelings. Love you a lot.
precious! I love that you're becoming a softie with #6!
We have unfortunately always been soft and kid # 5 and #6 or still in our bed. It's a miracle we have 6 kids.
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