to really miss all that small child stuff?

[AtYourCervix]

Bathtime. Bubbles, me sitting on the loo seat chatting.

Dollies and playmobil and building forts.

Playgrounds. Can't remember the last time i went down a slide.

Making daisy chains.

Reading lovely bedtime stories, from picture books to a chapter a night proper ones.

Getting excited about tractors.

Disney films.

Putting them to bed at 6.30 and having 4 hours of peace in the evenings.

Days out to farms.

Proper cuddles.




Somebody slap me ease.

[GuineaPigGaiters]

Yanbu. I LOVE the full on physicality of my nearly 4 year old. Today he has been a cuddly, giggly bundle of love. I'm not prone to gushy language, but I know absolutely that I will ache with longing for these days when they grow up and away.
How long til grandchildren are a possibility Cervix? :o

[RevoltingPeasant]

OP, you do know that if you wanted, tomorrow you could go out to a petting zoo, go to the playground and slide down the slide, and come home and do a craft project - on your own?

[AtYourCervix]

My first ever MN thread was all about being sat on and overtouched.

Now I have to beg for hugs.

[Namelessonsie]

My dd shouts "No!" If I try to make a track for her trains, and is as stubborn as a very stubborn thing. She also tantrums a lot, is refusing to be potty trained, and is approaching 3. She also wakes several times a night and doesn't nap. She is very very hard work.
Dd2 is 5 months and is a dream.

I can lend you dd1 if you like?

[insancerre]

this thread I'd lovely
I am very lucky, even though mine are call grown up now I work In a nursery so I get to play with playdough, go to the playground, slide down the slide, wave at firemen, policemen, postmen etc, paint my hands , read the gruffalo and were going on a bear hunt any time I want to
I also get hugs every day too
I do love my job

[Acridbottomgravy]

And much as I love their cuddles I get so so overtouched! They sit and climb on me CONSTANTLY and the eldest has started tapping to gett attention and it drives me insane. As I type, there are two sitting on me and a third playing with my feet. Sometimes I hide in the airing cupboard to get away from it for a minute!

[Acridbottomgravy]

I have 3 under 5 and it's HARD. Lovely but hard. I'm torn constantly between trying to enjoy every moment and being strung out at the relentlessness of it all.

[Oneaddoneisthree]

That's very true, Pixel. Of course everyone wants their dcs to grow up and be independent.

[Pixel]

Not really, mine has ASD and severe learning difficulties. He is a lovely boy but I still get the poopy pants, sleepless nights and have to help him dress/clean teeth etc, so it's not a case of forgetting the hard work. He's just so big and manly, he'll be getting a beard next.

And he won't be giving me grandchildren either .

All my hopes (for the far far future!) are pinned on dd but she's adamant she doesn't want children. Still, lots of us thought that at 18 right? I could foster but we haven't got a spare room so I'd have to kick dd out which seems a little harsh .

[Marylou62]

Oh and I think that most of the Posters who said that they didn't miss all the lovely bits have DC about 8-14 years. They still remember all the hard parts! All of us with older DCs definitely have on our rose coloured specks!!

[Marylou62]

Oh Ladies ...don't. Please don't. My youngest is flying the nest at the end of April...aged 17!!!! Joining Navy. My heart is actually sore.
We had a game where all of my 3 would huddle under a large towel after bath time and I would call my DH and say I had a pile of washing. He would (Try to) pick up all three and try and stuff them in washing machine. Oh how they loved this game and still remember it fondly. And I agree with EVERYONE who has posted. The good and not so good memories. Luckily am a nanny to LOs so still get my FIX. If MB asks me to early babysit I always ask if I can do bath/bedtime. Wonderful.....

[Oneaddoneisthree]

Agree with OP!

My youngest is 8 and I still kid myself that she's little, although when dd1 was 8 I thought she was all grown up. 8yo would still enjoy the park/farm/zoo but she hardly ever gets to do it because of the 2 older grumps we'd have to drag along.

It was definitely harder when they were little, but so so wonderful too. They were so cute! It scares me how fast the time has gone. In another 10 years they will all have left (at last that's the plan).

[StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes]

my last baby turned 18 on Tuesday, I miss warm cuddles, playmobil and pirates, having a whole zoo built around the living room, having to go to his pretend restaurant and eat pretend food, the books at bedtime and the total neediness that only mummy would do. still wakes me up at 6 only that's as he is coming home from a night out rather than needing warm milk and a cuddle

[EvansOvalPiesYumYum]

Ah yes, the hard work. Son's friend asked if I could have his tiny baby overnight on New Year's Eve. Much as she's a cutie-pie, I did decline. Daytime, yes! Overnight, no! I'm happy getting a good night's sleep now, thank you very much!!

I'll change her nappy if I'm looking after her, but if her Dad is here, he has to do it himself. I have strict rules and standards!

[Onlyonamonday]

My dds are the same age as yours 18 & 16
I sometimes miss the younger days but as pointed out in other posts
Do we forget the hardwork that was really involved

I have to say I am liking them a little more independent now
And dh and myself have time to ourselves again

[EvansOvalPiesYumYum]

Just give it ten years and you will be doing it all again with your grandkids

Sooner than that, sometimes Hummingbird! Daughter's boyfriend has a three-yr old son, next door neighbours have grandchildren, my cleaner has an 8-yr old and son's friend and g/friend have recently had a baby (I just sit and cuddle her - scrumptious)). They all come to visit. Thank goodness I kept all the glue and collage bits. I'm constantly rummaging in the loft and shed looking for toys and things. Great - I love it!!

[WhatsTheWordHummingbird]

Just give it ten years and you will be doing it all again with your grandkids

[PollyIndia]

DS is 18 months and I love it. I love him kissing me and stroking my face, the fact he thinks my bohemian rhapsody version is the funniest thing ever, his obsession with cars and books, the way he blows kisses at random teenage girls in the street. I already know that this will be the time I look back on as the best in my life, despite the 6am wakeup calls and the irrational fits of fury!

[PhoebeNPenny]

Little booties and sleep suits. Broody

[FrancesNiadova]

Ooh, wail! Youngest is 12 Today, eldest was 16 last month. I miss their little red Startrite shoes, tomorrow was difficult so he said, "On anudder day." Singing, "Now it's time to say goodnight at the end of a luffly day." Picnics & paddling pools in the back garden, wheeling them round in their car with a handle. Sob!

[SylvaniansKeepGettingHoovered]

Cervix your DDs are grown up, you could have grandchildren soon!!

[SquirtedPerfumeUpNoseInBoots]

With the benefit of hindsight, and I'm not mad keen on small ones now either, I'd take a 4yo any day.

This evening, I'd had it up to here. With a 12yo who will NOT do homework, will NOT do what he's asked.

12 yo tantrums are very similar to 2 yo tantrums but with more vicious language and stamping and slamming of doors.

[Pixel]

Totally agree OP. Mine are 14 and 18 and I want little children! I love prams, I look at nice ones outside charity shops and wish I could buy them. And don't get me started on tiny shoes!
Trouble is the menopause is tightening its grip and I'm not ready .
I want another chubby-kneed little one with fluff for hair who giggles hysterically at my bunny impressions.
Why did I read this thread?

[cromwell44]

yes, yes to AtYourCervix. I miss it all too. Three teenagers now. I miss the books, explaining about the world, the sticks, conkers, leaf collections, pointing out fire engines, lambs in fields, the small shoes, not the adult size 8 that I now trip over. Sob.
I have no one to buy for in Gap Kids (shallow).