I won’t miss this, but I will miss them.
I won’t miss the constant disaster in my house. I won’t miss sticky counters and floors, the “What’s that smell” and the worst, “Why is this wet?!”
But I will miss the evidence of their little lives all around me. Right now, any place in my home, all I have to do is open my eyes and I can see my kids, even when they aren’t there. Their toys, their school work, their favorite things–they’re everywhere.
I won’t miss the sleep deprivation and the constant night-waking. I won’t miss the complete exhaustion that even the rare good night’s sleep can’t fix.
But I will miss all of us sleeping under the same roof. I will miss knowing that all my little loves are tucked safely in their beds where I left them. I will miss a stroke of their hair or a kiss of their sleeping cheeks being just a few steps away.
I won’t miss the noise. Our house is so loud, most days feel like an all-out physical assault on my senses.
But I will miss the life brimming in this place. There is so much excitement in those little voices, so much joy in those ear-piercing shrieks. Right now, life is spilling out of every crevice of our home.
I won’t miss the crying and the whining. I won’t miss feeling like hearing my name one more time might make my chest explode.
But I will miss being the center of their world. I will miss knowing what they did all day and who they are spending their time with. I will miss being the one they come to with every problem.
I won’t miss “playing pretend” or playing things like Pokemon. I just won’t.
But I will miss them wanting to play with me. I will miss being their top choice. I will miss being their #1 (or at least their #2, because Dad is pretty much a celebrity around here).
I won’t miss the fighting. My kids bicker about any and everything. I don’t believe there’s a thing on this planet they can’t argue about.
But I will miss the adorable sibling conversations. I will miss seeing them growing together and loving one another. I will miss their unprompted acts of kindness toward one another that melt my heart on the spot.
I won’t miss the constant chatter. It seems like every other sentence right now is “Watch this” or “Right, Mom?” I can’t even use the bathroom without people following me there to continue our conversation.
But I will miss them wanting to talk to me. I will miss them caring what I think about everything they do. I will miss them wanting my attention more than anything else. I will miss full-on, professorial discussions from tiny voices about superheroes, Star Wars, and whether a bird flies faster than a plane or a rocket ship.
In short, I definitely won’t miss all of this, but I will most certainly miss all of them.
I love how honest this is! I feel like as moms it is hard to say what you want especially with all the mom shaming. I feel if we were all more real then it would make everyone better and not ashamed.
Hi Aubri,
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. You’re so right mom-shaming is rampant and, often, it’s moms doing it to one another (whether that’s intentinonal or not). I agree that it’s SO much better for everyone to just be real and honest. I think that would go a long way toward promoting truth in parenting (and then way fewer parents would experience the “shock to the system” that a dose of ACTUAL parenting can be). I most certainly won’t miss everything (and people who say they will are liars or have forgotten), but there is definitely so much I *will* miss!
Charissa
What a sweet post. I think it’s true that there are a lot of day to day things that we won’t miss about our kids and there are things that we will. That’s why it’s so disingenuous to say to savor every moment. Please, don’t. Only savor the moments you truly enjoy and miss those. There’s plenty of those to go around.
P.S. I feel you on the noise level. I have 2 boys and they are LOUD.
Hi Maria,
Yes, exactly! Some parts of parenting are so great and I will DEFINITELY miss them, but other things are… well, not to be missed (up-all-nights, stomach viruses, etc.)
It’s funny, I actually JUST wrote a post (like two days ago) for another site I contribute to and the ENTIRE post was about the noise of parenting.
Thanks!
Charissa
We are in agreement about most of these. It’s such a hard balance of soaking it up but releasing the stressful aspects of parenting. Thanks for the transparency. It is encouraging.
Hi Kimberlie,
I’m so glad you found it encouraging! Yes, some parts of parenting are amazing and others are … well, not so much!
Charissa