A few weeks ago, I pulled into a grocery store parking lot with 3-year-old Ella and 10-month-old Emiliano in tow.
Our trip started as a mission to “get the essentials” for Ella’s four food groups in her toddler diet: bananas, yogurt, cheese, and bread. But as I walked among the shelves, I remembered that I also needed a head of broccoli for dinner that night. We were running low on half and half and yada yada yada, before we knew it we were engrossed in grocery shopping.
During the next 30 minutes of walking through the fluorescent-lit aisles of Safeway, Emiliano was happy with a box of teething crackers and Ella was happily riding in a cart pretending to drive a school bus. Ta.
And as I headed to the register, I mentally patted myself on the back. “Wow, Chica,” I thought. “You did it. You ran your own grocery store with two kids. You’re doing well being a mother of two kids.” A few seconds after finishing that thought, Ella said, looked at me with wide eyes and said, “I have to poop.”
I soon found myself in one of the stalls in the Safeway bathroom, sweaty and panting from wiggling and bouncing a hungry Emiliano around while Ella went to the toilet. It was also cut. My frantic “You go girl!” as I held an angry baby in one arm and tried to wipe another child’s butt with the other, my very tired “You go girl!” It has been replaced with the word “there is”. When I saw myself in the bathroom mirror, I couldn’t help but smile. “This is life with two kids under four,” I thought to myself as I looked at my disheveled hair and bruise stains on my T-shirt.
Sometimes I dream of fast forwarding to the “golden years” when both of my children were, say, 7 and 10 years old. Old enough to give interesting advice, but young enough to cuddle on the couch. By this stage, I was finally able to navigate the exhausting and mind-numbing world of babies and toddlers: late-night feedings, teething, and tearful chaos in public. He will be released from the department.
But then, inevitably, the kids interrupt my daydreams and melt my heart. Like Emiliano’s contagious baby belly laugh. Or when I rock him to sleep, his chubby body gets squishy. One night at 2 a.m. I find myself in his nursery, trying to remember how the weight of his little body feels in my arms.
I also love watching Ella imitate our family’s mannerisms and sayings. She can now perform an eye roll that makes me laugh (and I feel a small sense of pride every time she pulls it off). And her toddler voice when she says, “I’ll moisturize you” at bedtime, and when she says, “Thank you…really,” after I give her a treat, is so serious.
Lately, I’ve been wondering more and more if I’m missing out on this chaotic but beautiful time of parenting. Every era has its magical moments.
I’d love to know: Where are you currently in your parenting journey and how are you progressing?
PS 5 Tips on Sibling Rivalry and Teens, Teens, Toddlers, and Conflict.
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