You're Gonna Miss This...

You'll miss this when it's gone...

You will always miss your child when they are gone.

You will miss your baby once he becomes a toddler.

And your toddler when he is an adolescent.

Your adolescent when he's grown up and left the house.

You'll always miss them. And there will always be certain stages of their life and your parenting journey, that you'll miss.

Always!

But I am here to tell you, that it is 500 percent okay, to not miss certain aspects about being a mom. 

About missing certain stages of life or milestones... it is okay to not miss changing diapers at 2 in the morning, ever morning. It is okay to look forward to a future Saturday in December, where you aren't waking up at 7AM and throwing your bushel of kids in the car, for the other kids sports practice or game. Of course, we do it, and of course we always will do it, because we love them. Absolutely. But that doesn't take away from the fact that we may not miss this particular stage or this particular season.

Will we miss our little babies cuddling us and being so snuggly and warm? Uhm, yes! Will we miss watching them run down the soccer field and cheering them on, totally! But will we miss the every 2 hour feedings? Maybe not. Will we miss practices in the snow? Probably not. And guess what, that's okay!

I think it is important that we stop telling moms, especially when they are going through a hard time or a particularly difficult season of their parenting journey, that they'll miss it. That doesn't take away from the fact that it isn't hard. Your kid throwing tantrums and being a lunatic every day, I can't necessarily see how any parent will miss that, the throw themselves on the floor screaming and crying kinds of things don't seem like cherished memories in my book. Or the meltdowns we both have at the end of a hard day, the endless school projects right in the middle of the busiest time of year, or the nasty attitude my teen has when I say good morning. But that also doesn’t mean I won't miss this age and certain aspects of this season.

Just because you aren't having the absolutely hardest of problems, doesn't mean you aren't having a hard time.

It doesn't mean you aren't going through something, and ultimately looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel. As moms and dads, parents and guardians, we need to be able to express that we are going through a hard time or that we are navigating through something difficult, without our third-cousin-removed, letting us know that "you'll miss this one day."

We are all well aware that we will miss our kids, and we know how quickly time goes by, but will I miss blow outs in the back of my car while we are in the carpool pick up line?

Doubt it.

And that's okay!

Hang in there mama!

XO, Kelleen