Watching your child grow and become an adult it such a bittersweet time. Gone is the baby you used to snuggle and in her place a wonderful young adult. These are the days I thought would never come while buried under diapers, bottles and teething gel. It’s hard to picture the future when you are getting, at best, three hours of sleep a night. But somehow, without you even being aware, the time flies by and your babies are no longer babies.
If there is anything good to be said about your babies growing up is that you get a chance to slow down. As a single mother I felt like I was like a whirlwind all day. From the time I drug myself out of bed in the morning until the time I fell back into bed at night, I was constantly on the go. Cooking, cleaning, helping with homework, driving to activities, monitoring baths and teeth brushing. Then up again to do to it all over. Not to mention working full time.
Now that Hailey is older I can slow down. She can drive herself to a friend’s house or her job or coffee with friends. My chauffeur duties are no longer needed. I find myself with actual time on my hands, time to read books, visit with friends, or any of the other things that were so rare when Hailey was younger.
One of the best things about this slowing down is the opportunity to enjoy children. Not my child of course, but other people’s children. I was at my friend’s house and her grandson came over, I was able to just play with him, just visit and enjoy his three year old self. When Hailey’s sister is here I don’t have to worry about all the things I worried about while raising Hailey, those are for her mother to worry about. When Ivy is here it’s play time, we bake cookies, read books, play princess, whatever makes her happy.
I love that I can now enjoy these children but it does make me sad that there are so many things I missed with Hailey because I was the only parent in the house, there was too much to do and not enough to just be. I wish I had slowed down years ago so that I could have enjoyed all these moments with my child.