ten things I must keep telling myself

...especially on days like yesterday


1. One day they'll get on and off the toilet without your help, wipe their own bums and thoroughly wash their hands without a reminder. And they won't announce to you when they need to use the toilet. They'll just do it. And you won't have to say stuff like good job, way to go, you're so awesome and I'm so proud of you as they're flushing the toilet.

2. Pretty soon rainy cool spring will turn into summer and they'll play outside a lot. And you'll be complaining about how hot it is so just enjoy the rainy cool spring while it lasts. They'll be outside making messes with mud pies and spraying each other in the face with the hose soon enough.

3. At some point their desire to go into the bathroom with you will end. Hopefully, your bodily functions will bore them to tears instead of acting like some kind of magnet that pulls them into the bathroom while you're in there. If you're lucky, they might even find your bodily functions quite disgusting and the kind of thing that does not require an audience.

4. There's a chance they might grow up and think it's lame to hang out with their mother so you might as well enjoy the 12 plus hours of awake time you get to spend with them almost every single day. 12 hours!

5. One day they will want to sleep in and a take naps. You won't even have to bribe them to take one. You might even be able to nap while they are napping and they won't come wake you up. That's supposing you turn into a nap person by then. It's not likely but it could happen.




6. They'll still love you if you lose it every once in a while but it's a lot nicer around here if you don't lose it in the first place. Keep your cool, even when you decide at 6:00 that you need a break (and your husband still isn't home from work and no naps were taken all day) and they say, "We'll take a break with you!" as if it is the best idea they've ever come up with. Just let them come lay in your bed with you again next time because you'll remember that they get bored of things really fast and they'll be out of that bed in less than 10 minutes and you can have your break after all.

7. A cutely decorated house is highly overrated. So what if you've lived in it for over 10 years and lots of the walls are bare. Your husband always tells you everything looks nice when you complain about it. Your kids couldn't care less. Neither should you. They'll go to school eventually and you'll have all day to sit and stare at the blank walls and wonder what on earth to do with them.

8. Some day they'll be friends. It might take 30 years but it can happen. And so what if Cate might never have a sister and Danny might never have a brother. That's what cousins and friends are for. You have three sisters and no brothers and look how perfectly you turned out. Everybody gets the family they need.

9. People who say enjoy this time, they're only young once, they grow so fast and other blah blah blah like that are the ones who had kids who never fought, ate their vegetables, had perfect sleep habits and didn't pick their boogers and then present them on the tip of their finger for proper disposal. And if those people say that stuff on just the right day (like yesterday) they're just asking to be punched in the face.

10. Remember all those nights you cried yourself to sleep because you wanted a baby and it seemed like everyone and their dog was having babies but you weren't? Remember that? Well, here they are. They grow so fast. They're only young once. Forget all that other stuff and just enjoy them.