bye bye toddler... hello boy!!

[Cantbelieveitsnotbutter]

So, its 4am and I can't sleep, the reason. Well today was a sad day for me, I packed away all my sons baby and toddler toys and applied for his school.

BAM it suddenly hit me, gone are the lovely days of a bit of cbeebies in the morning whilst we have a cuddle and he has his milk. Then a walk to feed the ducks, a snooze on the way home to more cuddles and play when he wakes up.

Don't get me wrong, my little munchkin was a bit of a surprise to say the least, so as a baby with little support from family and none from Health Visitors it was a steep learning curve. But suddenly, he started to walk, it opened up a whole new world. Wobbly amazing trips to the supermarket, feeding geese that are bigger then him, endless trips to the zoo and to farms. Selfishly, I've absolutely adored this time, without a doubt its been the most fulfilling wonderful time. More importantly I hope I've done it justice for him too. Slowly slowly 'Boy' things have been creeping in and cute baby things disappearing, guns, swords and spiderman are creeping into my house where peppa pig and thomas once sat. The last visit to Peppa Pig World it was clear it didn't have that amazement anymore, parks, farm and zoo trips are quickly being based on best playground instead of best animals.

Now the days consist of "i dont like peppa pig", wanting to watch spiderman, teenage mutant ninja turtles (they are back... again!) and trying to stop him watching accidental inappropriate material on youtube!!!

I can honestly say hand on heart (thankfully)i made the most of every day of him being a toddler, and as such hes repaid me by being the nicest, kindest, funniest most beautiful little character. So, whilst i morn the loss of enjoyable kids TV, and one last trip to Peppa Pig world booked in December (for me to say goodbye!) i look forward in trepidation to the next phase of my sons life, school, no more baby parking at the supermarket and trying to work out how on earth to raise a boy!

[N0tinmylife]

I hope you are feeling more positive today. I know what you mean though, it is bittersweet when you realise how quickly they are growing up, but you now have the exciting world of school to look forward to! My DS has just started school, and its great. I am loving watching him learn to read, and write. I love hearing him talk about what he has done each day, and there are loads of ways to get involved with the school if you want to.

[KLou111]

Thank you for this post. My DS is 17 months and I spend more or less all of his waking moments with him, but sometimes I just want to 'get on'.
Seeing as he may be an only (DH not too keen on another as we have a very easy comfortable life and DS is as good as gold!) I will make sure I treasure more of my time with him while he's still my baby boy :)

[goingwildforcrayons]

This made me cry it was so lovely. I hope those Bl**dy turtles aren't on trend when DS gets to that age. .

[MomaP]

Thank you for this post, I literally felt like I was reading my own article. In two weeks time, my beautiful baby (whom I still actually call 'the baby') will be turning 5. I am heartbroken.

As you said, all I hear about now is - spiderman, teenage mutant ninja turtles - he even plays Xbox, Nintendo DS and on my IPad. Lego and technology are our new favourite games in this house. I just want my little toddler back, even continuous watching of Mr Tumble (Oh yes, really) - let's hope the next 5 years are as amazing and enjoyable as the past! I am certain they will be.. however, THEN he needs to stop growing.

:)

[LouMae]

I'm actually the opposite, I've enjoyed parenting ds more and more the older he's got. At 7 he still gives lovely cuddles and tells me wonderful things about how much he loves me. But most of all I love having proper conversations, he comes out with such random insightful and funny stuff, sometimes far beyond his years. I love watching his interests develop and doing proper things with him, instead of endless trips to the park. I'm not constantly worrying about him injuring himself in the house, he can safely happily amuse himself for awhile while I get a shower or do housework. We can go out for a meal and I don't have to worry about him running around or shouting. I really struggled with the toddler phase, I found it unfulfilled and a daily grind. I couldn't reason with or communicate properly with him and always felt he was beyond control. I loved him but I found it boring and hard. Not saying all this to contradict you, just pointing. Out that the best years could be yet to come!

[KLou111]

Awwww that's so nice to hear LouMae enjoy your little fella :)