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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be wistful for when my DC were very young

65 replies

notnow2 · 29/04/2015 20:13

They are now 7,6 and 3 and a few years ago it was hard, tiring and somewhat monotonous. However, I already feel like I am losing them to independence and that's the best times been and gone and I can't really remember through the fug of it all and I never made the most of it all and

OP posts:
laughingcow13 · 30/04/2015 20:44

YABVVVVU!
God help us if the baby and toddler stage were the best!!
Honestly every stage is more rewarding and more interesting than the last. They become more individual with their own set of skills and interests.You can have conversations and do activities that interest you both.You can take pride in their acheivments.Lets face it every toddler is pretty much the same, but not every ten year old wins Maths challenge gold, or backflips all along the school field, or sings solos in a choir or whatever their particular 'thing' is

smoothieooo · 30/04/2015 20:50

Aah yes, those were the days when they listened to me and actually liked me! My DS are 15 and 16 and all I get nowadays is sneery looks and 'God, you're so annoying!'

Strokethefurrywall · 30/04/2015 20:53

Ah I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 13 month old. I am dreading that they grow up and loving it in equal measure as each stage (with the exception of 20 months to 2 1/2 years which was fucking awful because i was pregnant and exhausted dealing with a tantrumming toddler) was so much more fun than the last.

Just yesterday I asked my 1 year old not to grow up, to stay my baby long enough for me to catch up with him. My 3 1/2 year old is already a little boy and it went by so quickly.

I have to make myself take a step back and "live in the moment" because I can feel myself grasping hold of these moments and trying not to let them go, and yet not truly revelling in them.

DinosaursRoar · 30/04/2015 20:56

Measles - I'm blubbing too! and you are testing my resolve not to have a 3rd

TinklyLittleLaugh · 30/04/2015 20:57

I like the between 1 and 12 stage; I am no good at parenting teenagers, too controlling and shouty. It is nice when they come out the other side as amazing young adults though, and fab when you can phone one to pick you up from the pub. Wink

measles64 · 30/04/2015 21:01

Dinosaurs Roar, relax plenty of time I had an eighteen year gap between second and third lol...

ThatBloodyWoman · 30/04/2015 21:06

I think the one thing I really value now my dc's are getting older is that tbey can be sick in a bowl rather than all over the bed.
On this point alone YABU...

revealall · 30/04/2015 21:10

Having looked after lots and lots of children at all ages I find that younger children are all pretty similar.

Having watched my own grow up it's lovely to see him become his own person. That feels more like parenting than just feeding and playing ( which is what anyone can be paid to do).

MummyWeeble · 03/05/2015 11:10

measles, that poem made me cry too.

I get emotional at the current Robinsons advert as well.

violator · 03/05/2015 11:14

I hated the newborn stage, hated it.
Now DC is 3.5 and I find myself looking back "fondly" at the cuteness and cuddliness of it all.

Memories are funny like that, as time passes we tend to recall snapshots of the nice bits. But I know I hated the newborn stage!

MyLonelyChestHair · 03/05/2015 11:17

That poem is very soppy but all I think when I read it is "if it's the last time because they are growing up then thank fuck because it could be the last time for so many other horrid reasons". Realising that completely changed my perspective so last times and growing up become less of bad thing for me!

Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses · 03/05/2015 11:26

measles I am having a very trying day with a 2 year old and a 9 month old and I usually can't stand stuff like that poem - but I actually just cried.

Marshy · 03/05/2015 11:31

Bloody hell measles that's a miserable poem!

Teenagers are fab and there are lots of 'firsts' always happening to make up for the 'lasts'.

I was dreading my dd leaving for uni, and my ds has just turned 18, but for me the only way forward has been to embrace the fact that I'm doing a good job of seeing them into adulthood.

It's great seeing them take steps into independence and in all honesty we have much more fun together now than we did when they were whinging toddlers

LoveWA · 03/05/2015 12:04

I am in the middle of the storm, my kids are preschoolers. That poem did not make me cry. I am too bloody wrecked.

PacificDogwood · 03/05/2015 17:09

...there are lots of 'firsts' always happening to make up for the 'lasts'.

I am actually reassure that others feel like that too.
Can't comment on teenagers yet (DS1 is 12 - although DS3(7) throws a good strop Grin).

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