My littlest blessing has got me wrapped around her beautiful, fat, little finger. Yep, I'm hooked. She has reached the age where she looks up at me while nursing, pauses and gives me one of those big toothless grins that just make my heart melt.
All this in time for another milestone... the stage called "When my Mommy walks away, even for a second, I am going to cry and let her know I miss her". Put that irresistable toothless grin together with her strong attachment to Mom and I know that I will be holding her for most of our waking hours. With my firstborn, I was always looking for opportunities to set him down and "get things done". Now, sadly, I think how ridiculous I was to think it was more important to scrub my grout than to hold my little lambchop.
If you were to stop over my house this afternoon you would find a messy kitchen, a whole lot of clean laundry to be folded and a bunch of happy kids. The baby spends a lot of time in the sling or sitting on a blanket in whatever room I am working in at the time. I try to include the littles in the work that I do. I measure the day's success by the children's joy, not the number of windows washed.
My home is not picture perfect by any means. Not a day goes by that I do not wish I were better at keeping things tidy and getting on top of the work. But, this is not the time for spotless homes and smudge-free windows. It is the time for babies and diapers, toddlers, toys, boys, books and blocks. My day will come when I sit home in my spotless, quiet home, wishing someone would come over and liven things up a bit. I hope that day doesn't come soon.
Enjoy it! I miss that age, but I still have a very cherub-y blonde buddy here that (gasp) still nurses at age 2 3/4. Yep! :)
Who needs a tidy home anyway??
Denise in Ohio
Posted by: Denise in Ohio | July 23, 2006 at 02:33 PM
Thanks for such a great reminder, Rebecca! I know that so much of my stress is self-induced because I hear my children clamoring for me and I think I'm not getting my "work" done. If I could just relax and remember that they're really my "work" I'd be a lot less stressed!
Posted by: Laura Lewis | August 20, 2006 at 08:37 AM
What a wonderful bunch of "work" it is! Thank you for stopping by Laura. I hope to see you soon. Are you planning to join the co-op again this year?
Posted by: Rebecca B. | August 20, 2006 at 08:58 PM