Enjoy This Time.....

The other day I had the radio on while I was cleaning house and playing with the kids. I was only half way listening to the music, but in between songs I caught the DJ talking about how she was at the grocery store with her three young children. They were all tired and cranky and hungry. An older lady walked up gushing over the kids and said to enjoy the time she had with her kids because before you know it they are grown up and don't need you anymore.

I hear this a lot. And, sometimes I feel like I am a bad person or something is wrong with me because, honestly, sometimes I just can't imagine that these people that are saying this truly enjoyed every second of parenting. Either that, or I have done a horrible job raising my kids.

Yesterday, I had a woman stop me at the big box store. I had Mady in the buggy, trying to hold EVERYTHING that is put in the buggy at once so her brother could not touch anything. She would whine every time something fell out of her way-over-full arms. Meanwhile, Andrew is throwing things we do not need in the buggy. When this woman stopped me, I had told Andrew to pick ONE box of pop-tarts and he was telling me that he needs two boxes and he was going to get two boxes. We were back and fourth, one box, no two, okay zero boxes, etc. She said the most honest thing anybody has ever stopped and told me.

"It is hard, but when they have grandchildren it is both your reward and your revenge!"

I smiled at her and said "Thank you and I can't wait for that day!" She just smiled and continued on. I will never forget this comment and on some days it may be my motto.

As this DJ (who apparently read the same article that a FB friend just sent me the link to) said, I don't think it is the act of parenting that they love as much as the act of HAVING parented.

It is easy to forget the hard stuff when you are not in the midst of the hard stuff. It HAS to be. If we didn't forget the hard stuff we would NEVER have more than one child. Parenting, like giving birth, HURTS! I did not love giving birth to five kids, but I love that I GAVE birth to them.

The love and the good times far outweigh the bad.

I am not saying that I want to rush through every day with my kids. But, some days I do. Some days I am merely surviving. I don't think it matters if you have one kid or 10 kids, I think if we are all honest, every mother has these moments. The moments where you daydream about getting to sleep through the night, go on dates, being spontaneous, traveling, etc. Doing all these things without the monumental planning process that goes in to every move you make. Even for me to go to the bathroom these days, if I want to go alone I have to plan distracting the kids or watching for them to distract themselves and sneaking off.

I would love to skip the hard things. My children's hearts being broken. Discipling (contrary to my children's believes, it really is not fun), phone calls from school, bullies, fights (between siblings, parents/kids, other kids). The hard decisions that effect the kids and family. These are all things I could live without. But, these are the things that make us ALL who we are!

I do want to enjoy the times my kids are home. I won't enjoy EVERY minute, though. I know they are growing way too fast. I agree that when they are grown I will miss the time we are in now. I have daily reminders of that since I have such a wide age-range of children. It is easier to see where I have been with the first one when I have another one going through it. It is also easier to see how fast they are growing up.

But, I will love when they are "parented" and on their own too. And, I will REALLY love them when they have their own babies and truly get what it is to be a parent!