I had a fight with my girls last night. They are 12 and 14.
I started thinking about you new mommies, with babies and toddlers and preschoolers.
I thought, "If you think this is hard, you are in for a big surprise later on!
Of course, when I was in diaper-sippy cup-tantrum-napping-car seat chaos, I thought it was the hardest thing I'd ever done. I cannot express to you how incredibly wrong I was.
Hard? When most problems in your child's life can be solved with a baby wipe, animal crackers, or a nap, be thankful.
When your prayer is that you may be able to get some sleep, be thankful. One day your prayer will be that you have imparted enough moral strength in your child so they are not going to sleep with some pimple faced, awkward kid who they think the sun rises and sets on.
I've been there. I'm not speaking from a place of one person who had one child and 6 nannies to help. I have 4 children...I've done the part you're doing. I've had a heart attack when they let go of my hand and toddle down the sidewalk. I've chased kids who hide in the clothing racks in the stores. I've been that lady with the screaming baby in the grocery store. I've been the mom who is screaming with fear while they call a "Code Adam" in WalMart because someone wanted to hop over and "just look at the fishies, mommy." I've had kids fall in the pool, break bones playing, leave half their skin on the road from bicycle accidents.
I've been puked on, pooped on, peed on, slobbered on, and spit up on, and so have the floors in my homes and some pieces of my furniture.
Get out a baby wipe. Get some bleach.
You got this.
Prepare yourself now for teenage years. You know how much information you read while you were pregnant?
Start now with the teenage years books. Read them now to prepare. Start praying now for their teenage years.
This is hard like you never imagined.
See, you will have to protect their hearts, their...psyche, for lack of a better word.
And so many people have access to them in their teen years. So many people.
It is frightening how quickly a child can change their internal dialogue to say, "I'm no good."
Frightening.
When your daughter's heart breaks, so will yours.
When your daughter is under attack from some broken and confused other teenager, so will you be.
When your daughter comes up short, so will you.
You will feel everything just as you feel every fall as she learns to walk now.
Take care.
Keep them from bumps and bruises, by all means, but shore up their hearts. Figure it out now, read and gather and fellowship with women who have older kids. You need that information. You need to know.
I'm writing this because there are mommy blogs everywhere about little kids.
"How to keep your 2 year old occupied for 1.3 hours"
"Ways to handle tantrums"
"How to feed your toddler"
"Make your own clothes, baby food, diapers, shoes, and wipes"
Whatever.
That is the easy part. I can tell you all of that in 3 seconds....keep your 2 year old occupied for a long time with water (pool, pouring...whatever)....tantrums - don't tolerate them. Put your child in a safe place and walk away. Food-feed them whole foods all the time and they'll be fine. Make your own - Pinterest! Ha ha....But use what is available...buy clothes or trade clothes with friends....buy wipes, making them is not worth it....buy shoes...feed your baby the same food you eat, you don't have to go crazy on it, just keep some out before you add a lot of spice.
Life is simple, basic with babies and toddlers. Enjoy it. And use the time to prepare yourself for later years.
In 12 years if I still have this blog, you can come back and thank me.