To ask how long children remain little for

[acatisnotjustforeaster]

I am forever being told, cherish the time spend with our darling children as they aren't little for long. How long do you think we've got them for ss lovely little innocents?

[maninawomansworld]

Too long to be honest. I've got 2.5 year old twins and frankly can't wait for them to grow up a little bit. Small kids are a real drag!

My nephews by contrast (ages varying from 8-15) are absolutely fecking brilliant fun!

[BertieBotts]

DS was very little today :) We walked back a different way from Kindergarten and passed several drinking fountains (typical where we are). DS wanted to fill up his water bottle at every one, which I was happy about. When we got to the last one, which is quite elaborate and I've always assumed is some kind of fertility symbol, as it has several brass animals around the edge in various stages of shagging and a nude, embracing human couple in the middle and a man came up to us and explained to DS "This is the fountain of love".

So he went around with his bottle and "fed" every one of the animals a drink. I don't know what it was about that but it was so sweet and innocent, and something I hadn't pictured him doing for quite a while that I thought it was quite moving.

[AsongforEurope]

And of course my babies will always be babies to me.

[IfNotNowThenWhen]

And Uranus is the very funniest planet, according to all children ever.

[toomuchtooold]

Bakingbunty I wish someone would start one of those threads of kids' funny names for stuff again. Mine are just 3 and in the prime phase of odd phrases. This week from DD2 we got "cooking hands" (oven gloves) and "beany weenies" (wotsits - no idea where she got that one from).

[BakingBunty]

Love this thread. DS is nearly 4, so still very little, but already starting to lose the adorable little mispronounciations and made up words/phrases. I miss them and keep meaning to write them down. Though I will never forget 'up towers' (high heels!).

[BertieBotts]

Bathroom humour is perfectly childish IMO. I dislike it too but it seems universally hilarious to (apparently, almost :) ) all children and not so many adults.

[Lashalicious]

It is sophisticated to find bathroom humor funny? How so?

[IfNotNowThenWhen]

Dunno about bathroom humour making them grow up too fast...I was a pretty unsophisticated child, but I still found fart jokes hilarious

[fourtothedozen]

The santa stage never ends. We still cast the santa magic and my kids are almost adults.

[AsongforEurope]

I just love the innocence of believing in Father Christmas etc. I will feel sad when this stage ends

[Lashalicious]

My son is ten and he is still sweet and innocent and even cuddly. He is more independent and has always been perceptive and can intelligently discuss some important topics. He still has the sweet cheeks and a little roll of fat on the back of his neck. I think age 5 is one of the most magical ages, actually every year is wonderful because each one has its own charms. He doesn't watch a lot of tv or keep up with all that's popular in the culture. He's into Legos and classic and uplifting music and drawing, Star Wars and Star Trek. I try to introduce him to stories of true heros in real life, and good characters in movies, we're watching To Kill A Mockingbird tonight, his choice, (he saw it first a couple of years ago), and inspirational like Yankee Doodle Dandy (bio of George Cohan), etc. He doesn't like bathroom humor in movies and I'm glad. Children are made to grow up too fast in a culture that is mostly coarse, I don't ever want to buy into that culture. I think that is what makes our children seem to grow up too fast.

[IfNotNowThenWhen]

I also think it's sad when they secretly like stuff they feel they are not supposed to anymore, like ds read all the worst witch books, and the faraway tree books last year but would have been mortified if I had told anyone. A lot of things seem to be deemed "for babies" just at about the moment children can actually understand them.

[IfNotNowThenWhen]

Definitely easier to keep them a bit little with no older siblings, this is true. I dont ban things or even draw attention to the fact i am trying to stem the tide of teenager stuff, its just in small ways .
For example, ds likes pop music, and I let him go on you tube a bit and watch videos of songs he likes, but the laptop and tablet are under my control ( konntrrrolll!) , he can't just sit on it for hours, so he will put a cd on ( we still buy cds) and dance around, which seems more innocent to me.
I know a lot of parents in the suburban idyll I live in who seem to almost want their 8, 9,10 year olds to have the coolest haircuts, the most expensive trainers, the I pod, the latest x box, and it's the parents give their children the message that they are not little anymore, they are now "cool".
I am seeing it in the attitudes of ds friends, when they march in asking for my Wi-Fi password but then last weekend I chucked them into the garden with some blankets and they a made a den, and we're old school make believe playing, which h was so sweet I was totally spying.

[LittleBearPad]

What a lovely thread.

Will gaze at my sleeping 3 year old a bit longer tonight.

Bonsoir

[ouryve]

Well, my 9yo is shoulder height and 11yo rapidly catching up with me and fitting in my shoes... :o

[DontCallMeBaby]

I've just been looking at a pic of my cousin's family - kids are 13, 11, 8, 7 and 2 days (!) The 7yo looks little, his 8yo brother much less so. The baby, of course, looks extremely little! But I've also looked back at Mrs Cousin's Facebook and the change in the 8yo between his birthday in January and now is just enormous.

(In the unlikely event that Mrs Cousin is on MN and has time to look at it right now those family ages have probably completely outed me )

[LondonRocks]

They are all golden days. My theory is that if you can handle the hard yards with love and kindness, you get these adults who love you to bits in your life in time.

Christ, though, when one DC was tiny, I wept at the thought of them leaving home in time. But I guess that's the whole point, eh?

[acatisnotjustforeaster]

I am sucking up all these moments with my little ones, hugging them a little bit more and (trying) not getting cross with them. They are such little poppets at the moment and see the world in such a magical way. Golden days.

[LondonRocks]

Is it a puberty thing? Or independence? Someone told me that year four was when teachers try to make kids more independent.

[DontCallMeBaby]

They're definitely still little at 7 going into year 3 - not by the end of year 4. Not sure quite when the transition happens. DD brought a class photo home at the end of year 4; it made me cry when I compared it to the Reception one. Now I have a year 6 one and the difference is hard to pin down (year 4 to 6, this is) but it's huge.

My mum's a retired secondary school teacher and she says they change the most from year 7 to year 8. Eep.

[msgrinch]

londonrocks has said it well!

[BertieBotts]

DS is into some "teenagery" stuff as I said, and we haven't particularly made effort to steer him away or ban it. In fact DH has probably encouraged it a bit. But he is still innocent and free as well. He still believes everything that we say as gospel, he still has a very innocent way of wording things sometimes and although he's very keen on what's "for girls" and "for boys" he doesn't really have a handle on it, because he asked me the other day for a necklace and a bracelet with "dangly jewellery bits on it". Or if that's too expensive I'm allowed to get him a plain red band instead

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

Congrats to your baby cashew
My DD is nearly at the same stage though told me yesterday she doesn't want to learn to drive just yet as it looks a bit scary. I said OK maybe we should master riding the bike first! (still a bit wobbly on that)

[acatisnotjustforeaster]

This thread is making me happy too. Lots to look forward too, lots of memories to make.