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Saturday, June 2, 2012

I Have Arrived.

I took the kids to the beach for a couple days over the holiday weekend.

And I noticed something.

Somewhere along the way, I'm not sure precisely when, I dropped my title of Mom to Young Kids.

Which would mean, I suppose, that I am now a Mom to Older Kids.

Now, most of the time, that still means plenty of busy, just a different kind of busy than you have with Littles. There's a lot more chauffeuring, a lot less hiney-wiping. A lot more arguments, just of a different nature. We now argue about texting plans and piercings and Facebook drama, where we used to argue about which sippy cup they wanted and going potty before we got in the car (actually, we still sometimes have that argument).

But on a day like going to the beach? A LOT less work than it used to be.

They packed their own bags. They loaded the car. They packed up the snacks and drinks and towels and sunblock we would need. They all took care of their own means of entertainment, including any chargers needed. Pillows, sleeping bags, pajamas? Check.

As for the beach itself, I got to park my lazy a** in a beach chair all day. I made no sand castles, I did not need to teach anyone the fine arts of boogie boarding/body surfing/finding sand crabs/looking for the perfect shells. When they wanted to climb the steps of Ol' Barney, I said, here's $3.00, knock yourselves out, while my tired old legs sat themselves down at a picnic table.









Not that I don't miss those days, or look back with fond memories at when we did those things together. But I have earned my time on my throne in the sand.





Of course, now my sister brings her two year old, so I guess I should be doing those things with him.

Nah.... that's what cousins are for.




On a post note, maybe giving the kids all this extra independence isn't such a good thing.
James kept telling me, yesss, he reapplied sunblock. Jheesh, Mom.
He wound up looking like a burn victim.












And Rosie broke her toe on her uncle's trampoline.
And they wonder why my response to their pleas for a trampoline is always a resounding NO.





Oh well. One of these days I'll find the balance...







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Thanks for stopping by!
~Anne


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9 comments:

  1. Wow! I don't even know what to say about the peeling thing-fascinating and gross all at the same time :)

    Yep, you have earned your throne-so sit in it all you want!

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  2. MamaHen, that sums it up perfectly. I always love peeling sunburn, esp when it comes off in big sheets. But at the same time, it's so disgusting....

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  3. Oh god, my whole heart went out to James in that photo. Poor little buddy! I still nag mine...32, 30 and 20 plus the extra 3 kids I now own...their partners...about sun block. My middle child Kerstin is a mom to a 2yr old and so now she understands, the others are pretty hopeless claiming that they have olive skin. (like that is some sort of magic protection) Oh well, if it isn’t life threatening or morally threatening it’s only painful for mother. BTW, been voting for you daily.

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  4. What can you really do besides give reminders once they reach a certain age, right? It would frankly be more than a little creepy for me to be applying the sunblock to them at their ages now (except for their backs).
    Thanks for the votes, Veronica, and just for stopping by!

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  5. Love it! "But I have earned my time on my throne in the sand." My youngest is 10 so I'm just getting to my throne but how sweet it is! All that hard work when they're little pays off!

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  6. Yes, Theresa, no one earns their thrones more than Moms, right? Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. I still have one little one that needs me - and I'm starting to think that I'm really going to miss it when she doesn't! I expect that I'll nag about sunscreen until the end of my days though!

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  8. My youngest is only five-years-old, but I can already appreciate that potty-training and sippy cups are behind us. Travel is already easier and requires less stuff. It's nice to know that it gets better, but that some things never change too.

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  9. Lisa and Allison, they'll always need us, they just won't always need quite so much from us!

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