One more thing that helps on the journey is to make sure you have fun. I remember when my first three kids were born (3 years apart) and we used to play train in a computer paper box. My daughter would have been about 3 and a half when we started, my oldest son would have been 2 years old, and my middle son would have been around 6 months old (my youngest son not born yet).
The three of them would squish inside a box, oldest to youngest and they would scream and squeal all the way down the hall. When we would get the other end of the hall (where I would catch my breath for a second) they would all should “Again, Mommy, again!” and we would go whirling down the hall to the living room. We would repeat the trips for as many times as I could possibly stand it.
We also did laundry together. I would bring the clothes to the living room couch and we would all fold. You can’t begin to imagine how they looked when they were folded, but I didn’t care. They were clean. The kids loved laundry day. It became a play day.
There were other things that happened that at the time didn’t seem so funny to me, but the kids had a blast! One day my middle son (who was about 18 months old) was talking about snow. I told him it wasn't snowing outside and I went on with what I was doing. Before I knew it, I realized he was missing so the three of us set off to find him. As it turns out, he was in my bedroom with a large bottle of baby powder and he was squishing it with all his might all over the room. White baby powder covered my bedspread, my dresser, my carpet, my chest of drawers… baby powder was everywhere!
When I saw it, I said, “Oh, no” and he gleefully shouted, “SNOW Mommy, SNOW!” The four of us had a great time with the vacuum sweeper cleaning up the snow!
People would tell me (like my Mother) these were the best times of my life. At the time I found that hard to believe. We had messes everywhere all the time, dirty faces, mounds of diapers, and if someone wasn’t crying they were screaming. Some days I thought they were the worst of times.
People who came to my house would say, “Is it like this ALL the time?” I would reply, “Oh no, sometimes it’s much worse!”
Looking back, I wouldn’t trade it for anything because we had so much fun. I loved it that we played train in a box. I loved it that we did laundry together and that it was strewn all over the living room. I love it (now) that my son made “snow”. Now I know, they WERE the best of times.
The journey is filled with best of times and worst of times, the difference is what we do with it...
The three of them would squish inside a box, oldest to youngest and they would scream and squeal all the way down the hall. When we would get the other end of the hall (where I would catch my breath for a second) they would all should “Again, Mommy, again!” and we would go whirling down the hall to the living room. We would repeat the trips for as many times as I could possibly stand it.
We also did laundry together. I would bring the clothes to the living room couch and we would all fold. You can’t begin to imagine how they looked when they were folded, but I didn’t care. They were clean. The kids loved laundry day. It became a play day.
There were other things that happened that at the time didn’t seem so funny to me, but the kids had a blast! One day my middle son (who was about 18 months old) was talking about snow. I told him it wasn't snowing outside and I went on with what I was doing. Before I knew it, I realized he was missing so the three of us set off to find him. As it turns out, he was in my bedroom with a large bottle of baby powder and he was squishing it with all his might all over the room. White baby powder covered my bedspread, my dresser, my carpet, my chest of drawers… baby powder was everywhere!
When I saw it, I said, “Oh, no” and he gleefully shouted, “SNOW Mommy, SNOW!” The four of us had a great time with the vacuum sweeper cleaning up the snow!
People would tell me (like my Mother) these were the best times of my life. At the time I found that hard to believe. We had messes everywhere all the time, dirty faces, mounds of diapers, and if someone wasn’t crying they were screaming. Some days I thought they were the worst of times.
People who came to my house would say, “Is it like this ALL the time?” I would reply, “Oh no, sometimes it’s much worse!”
Looking back, I wouldn’t trade it for anything because we had so much fun. I loved it that we played train in a box. I loved it that we did laundry together and that it was strewn all over the living room. I love it (now) that my son made “snow”. Now I know, they WERE the best of times.
The journey is filled with best of times and worst of times, the difference is what we do with it...
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