We don’t appreciate the years of little kids while we’re in them.
Because humans never do until it's too late and they're gone.
While we're in it, we often wish parts of it away,
The hardly any time to ourselves,
The crawling across the floor to put away puzzles and crayons,
The peeling off stickers,
And scraping muffins and scrambled eggs off the kitchen floor.
We wish away the tantrums,
The constant fighting,
The bad behavior,
The non-stop laundry,
And the exhaustion ALL THE TIME.
We wish away every imperfect moment that makes our skin crawl.
But one day, it will be over
And we’ll miss it—
ALL OF IT.
We’ll miss the giggles,
The smiles,
The “not wiped off” kisses,
And chubby arms and toothless grins.
We’ll miss being needed,
The crooked teeth,
The time spent together,
And hearing “mommy look!” every two minutes.
We’ll miss who we are RIGHT NOW as individuals and a family.
Because soon new people will be living in our house with us. Their faces and voices will morph into someone else’s.
And they’ll keep changing.
And we’ll be new people, too.
So, let’s try to take in ALL OF IT—
the bad, hard, and the good—
and not take any of it for granted.
Because I guarantee,
One day soon,
We’ll miss THIS.
Art: Amanda Oleander