![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/growing-up-2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n“Stop! \u00a0Don’t grow up so fast.”<\/p>\n
“Don’t grow up, little one.”<\/p>\n
“Just stay little.”<\/p>\n
“I can’t stand it. \u00a0My baby is growing up!”<\/p>\n
The currently in-the-little-kids-stage Mom version of the Mom with big kids who says forlornly, almost guilt producingly, “You’re going to miss these days. These are the best days of your life.”<\/p>\n It’s sweet, right? \u00a0Mamas so enamored with their little ones they can’t bear to have the minutes of spit up and yellow blow outs come to an end.<\/p>\n But it’s not just the smell of yet another allergy poop diaper that’s making me feel snarky.<\/p>\n It’s a given that while I am prone to dramatics and over exaggeration (see what I did there?), I’m also brutally honest. \u00a0I have moments when I think I can’t breathe because I love it so much. \u00a0The smell of Bella’s head when she comes in from the swing and the scent of her sweet little self mixes with fresh air against my chin. \u00a0The moments when I watch Zara twirling in her room because she loves her skirt and she looks at me and asks, “Why do people always smile at me?” \u00a0I feel Liam pressed up against me on the couch as we wade through perimeters and quadrilaterals and practice mental Math and I know it won’t always be like this. \u00a0Not even for much longer. \u00a0Because I also watch his older brother. \u00a0I have to look up at Adam now. \u00a0We discuss things on adult levels and sometimes he’s the one initiating the hard questions instead of me. \u00a0He takes the heavy load and I watch him in near disbelief when I get frustrated with something and he gently says, “here, Mom, let me do it. \u00a0See, like this.”<\/p>\n If Bella would listen to me say that and stop growing up, I’d never get to watch her jump the bottom two steps of the stairway like Zara does. \u00a0If Zara stopped, I’d never watch her face as I explain root words and the magic of comprehension wash over her like it did for Liam with “bio-” and “-ology” and the way we get zoology, geology, theology, and microbiology. \u00a0Or the way he nearly bounced off the couch as it all sank in and he exclaimed as though I’d given him the world, “You are the best teacher! \u00a0I’m getting smarter every day!” \u00a0If Liam stopped I’d never get to look up to see his chocolate eyes or watch him take over the entire laundry day because he saw that I wasn’t going to get to it.<\/p>\n Sure three year old stinky feet are kind of cute and there isn’t one thing cute about baseball cleats coming off in the van (more like an instant exit strategy). \u00a0There’s an indescribable preciousness about little people that I am going to miss so much when the tiny bubble blowers have all grown up. \u00a0But, I absolutely love these days with nine and thirteen year old boys and I would have missed out on so much if they’d just stayed little. \u00a0I refuse to believe this is the last time I’m going to have fun with them. \u00a0Somehow, I think it’s just going to keep getting better.<\/p>\n I love these days. \u00a0Sometimes I want to run away from these days. \u00a0And that’s why I can’t say it. \u00a0There are moments when I can hardly comprehend the magnitude of the miracle in my house that is so full of small and not so small humans. \u00a0And there are days when I’m pretty sure I’ve laid down all of me there is to lay down and it’s not enough. \u00a0Not nearly enough. \u00a0Days when I’m selfishly tired of always laying down me.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n