littles and bigs

I've been thinking about my life. My current life.

Today, for instance, I went to breakfast with a friend. We talked for two straight hours and then I went to help at Bekah's class for an hour. Then I came home to a quiet, empty house.

Tomorrow I will leave a quiet, empty house, go to lunch with a different friend, then come home to a quiet, empty house. Well, quiet and empty until 2:35 that is.

For years I swam neck deep in chaos and now suddenly, it's mostly over.

For years I had so many little helpless kids, so many diapers, so many messes, and so little space, patience and endurance. Stick worked long, long hours and had demanding church callings. Sometimes I wondered if I would survive the day.

Somehow I did. I survived the days. Admittedly some better than others. Somehow I survived the weeks, months, years.

Suddenly here I am with a mostly quiet house and time for lunch with friends. Suddenly my littles are bigs. Suddenly the wild, stinky, mess making children have all grown up into fun people who have interesting conversations and only occasionally act wild and stinky.

Mainly the reason I'm writing this is for my daughters. Someday they''ll be a young wife with lots of little kids, feeling overwhelmed and under appreciated. The days will feel long and the hours longer.

And yes, I realize that even that has no guarantees, they may not get married and may not have children but I'm writing in the hope that both these things happen at some point in the future.  Far, far, far in the future. (Ha!)

Take heart my darling girls. You can do it. You can even do it well. You feel overwhelmed? It's normal. It's hard for everyone, and if they say it's not hard, they are lying. And if you feel like you can't possibly manage one more stinky diaper or temper tantrum or screaming kid, call me. I'll be there.
Then before you know it, your house will be mostly quiet and empty and your littles will be bigs. And I'll take you to breakfast. Just the two of us.

2 Comments

undefined:

Just admit it....you wrote this for me. Me and my baby who is screaming, right this minute. I wanna get breakfast!

undefined:

Loved this.

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