Sweet, Sweet, Perspective on Toddlers

I've read two posts in the last week about the Toddler years (basically anything between 1 and 5) and I am LOVING them. Because as parents of a 1.5 and 3.5 year old there are many times that we need to give each other a little pep talk of, "its going to get better". The older they get we know new challenges will be presented but, right now, patience is thin, brains are crashing with over load and some days you wonder what the heck we were we thinking! And let me tell you, kids bedtime and mommy's bottle of wine can't come quick enough.

On the flip side, now that my son is approaching 1.5 yrs things ARE easier than a year ago, and we know it. The first year is just a blur of well, blur, cause you never remember much later except for snippets. Now, I'll admit it feels like complete mayhem most of them time around here, but there is also a LOT of fun. They are funny, smart, fascinating little kids. Becoming active,  joke-telling, goofy members of our little family pod. We laugh a lot. Those are the days that we say, "There it is! The reason we had kids!"

At around 15 months old, with both of our kids, was when I felt like my head was starting to literally lift. For a long time you have that feeling, like when you go to a party or gathering with two (even just one) toddlers, you leave the party feeling like you never actually made eye contact with an adult the entire time you were there. Its a really strange feeling. With your first baby its hard because it one of those times that you are acutely aware that your life is CHANGED. And you sort of feel like that, in general life, for a long time. That you spend all you time looking down. When each of my kids were around 15 months is when I really began to feel like I was seeing the world around me for the first time. It is a good feeling.

And now the next stage we look forward to is self sufficiency! This is why my first JOY DAY post was about A getting out of bed on her own. And I remember the first time a while back, when she went to the bathroom totally by herself, washed her hands and rejoined our activity: heaven. Every step towards happy independence IS joyful.

So this week I saw this piece "Toddlers: The Hours Are Long, The Years Are Short". Love it. It also referenced Ask Moxie's "It Gets Better: Toddler Edition". I recommend both of these readings for any one who is living with their head down right now. Or for anyone who's head is slowly raising to find themselves holding pom-poms for independence.  My favorite sentence on Ask Moxie: "they are still little boys even though a lot of days it's like having two adult roommates who just like to snuggle a lot."

I can't wait!

But we still look around and say to ourselves, breeeeaaaaathe. Its going to be over soon. She won't always have this ridiculously cute lisp. And his 1 year old feet won't always be this chubby.