....... I miss my babies. I am guessing almost all mothers young or old have heard this said, “Enjoy it while you can, they grow up so fast.” So, today I was busy in my very lonely kitchen (except a little happy music playing in the background) making a yummy potato dish for the ward dutch oven dinner tonight and it was SO quiet and empty.
Not many years ago, I thought I lonnnnged for the quiet when there were babies helping me on the counter top and toddlers running around my feet. Running out to check on the little boy playing in the mud or the tiny girl climbing a great big tree. REALLY!! I swore I would never say it. That older mother( I'm only 42) with all the grown teenage kids telling me to ENJOY it. Not that I would go back. I love where my life is today and all my big kids running around, mostly independent. Drama from the prom queen. Stinky teenage boys and 1 big boy manchild ripping deeeesgusting flatulence during our TV viewing and then laughing hysterically about it.
But seriously!!! I really miss my babies today. Those head pounding, hair pulling, sleepless nights, cry your eyes out crazy days with young children. I'm going to say it, enjoy those little moments . One day, and much sooner than you think, they won't be there. It is so sad, now I'm crying. A wonderful visiting teacher gave me this quote years ago and it still hangs around. Edith Hunter said, “The walks and talks we have with our four-year-olds in mismatched boots have a great deal to do with the values they will cherish as adults.” They will be adults before we know it. Time does fly and they do grow up so fast. Okay, now I feel better. I will go back to my empty quiet lonely and, yes still messy, kitchen looking forward to their speedy return and smiling faces. At that point I will try to find joy in what we call “piranha hour” at our house. Cherish them.
"No gift bestowed upon us is so precious as children.
They are proof that God still loves us. They are the hope of the future."
-- James E. Faust (Ensign, May 1987, p. 80.)