Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how long children remain little for

86 replies

acatisnotjustforeaster · 16/07/2015 17:54

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?

OP posts:
Original poster
acatisnotjustforeaster · 16/07/2015 20:58

Love that msgrinch Grin

OP posts:
hazyshadeofwinter · 16/07/2015 21:14

Reading this in bed as I feed DC2 (probably the last, 9mo) and it's making me cry. I believe you that each stage is wonderful, but I feel so sad that one day I won't have a baby snuffling next to me at night; I won't be able to cuddle and sniff him whenever I fancy; I won't be able to hold his big brothers hand and skip through the park. Still, seven more years of littleness sounds ok...I.just hope I am awake enough to enjoy some of it...

Original poster
acatisnotjustforeaster · 16/07/2015 21:19

I know hazyshade. My snuggle baby is starting to move now!

OP posts:
allovertheworld · 16/07/2015 21:33

Acat mine is "standing his own" ( as his brother describes it) and I know it won't be long til they can both outrun me and escape the cuddles. As well as all the physical things (chubby hands, snuggly soft heads) I love the excitement as thy learn new things. Eldest told me with pride the other day: I'm learning so much mummy. Soon I'll be able to brush my teeth my own, then I won't need you.

cashewnutty · 16/07/2015 21:36

My little baby passed her driving test last week. I have no idea how she has become an independent young adult. She is my BABY. I am in denial.

CainInThePunting · 16/07/2015 21:41

DS is about to turn 16 Sad and looking back over the years I think my favourite time was when he was learning to walk, he was at his absolute cutest and I'd love to be able to go back, give him a squeezy huggle (I know) and bite his little bum one last time [I'm not twisted, it used to make him belly laugh which was adorable].
It's all good though, just different and you will have lovely moments all the way through.

Imnotbeingyourbestfriendanymor · 16/07/2015 21:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

msgrinch · 16/07/2015 21:43

They don't smell that way but they always have that heart tuggy feeling when you do smell them (apart from after pe, don't smell them after pe. rookie mistake there). I don't think I'll have any more kids, I think ds will be it and it was sad for a bit until I realised that actually even though he's not that lovely little newborn, he's so fun and enjoyable now. I do miss tiny him but growing up him keeps me amazed and I'm so proud every day. right stop me as I sound ridiculous and he'd say "mummmm you're embarrassing me". He still sleeps in the same position he did as a newborn, so it doesn't change it just gets better Smile

LondonRocks · 16/07/2015 21:50

Bonsoir fuck knows what's wrong with me but your post made me cry:

Little children, unaware of the cares of the world and whose minor worries and problems can be cured by parents in an instant, are a source of delight and elicit unparalleled emotional responses. It doesn't last - the real world with its traumas and dilemmas catches up with all of us.

Gobbolinothewitchscat · 16/07/2015 21:52

I have a 1 and a 2 year old and am 20 weeks pregnant so very hormonal.

I don't think I should be reading all of these lovely posts

He squeezes my hand and it feels like the same one then held my hand 17 years ago.

Gulp

LondonRocks · 16/07/2015 21:53

I love every bit of my DCs' growing - it's a wonderful adventure. Just brilliant. I really, really try hard to live in the now with the DC, something I fail to do in other areas of my life.

Original poster
acatisnotjustforeaster · 16/07/2015 22:00

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

OP posts:
JugglingFromHereToThere · 16/07/2015 22:01

Congrats to your baby cashew Thanks
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)

BertieBotts · 16/07/2015 22:03

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 Grin

msgrinch · 16/07/2015 22:04

londonrocks has said it well!

DontCallMeBaby · 16/07/2015 22:10

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.

LondonRocks · 16/07/2015 22:12

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

Original poster
acatisnotjustforeaster · 16/07/2015 22:17

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.

OP posts:
LondonRocks · 16/07/2015 22:24

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?

DontCallMeBaby · 16/07/2015 23:21

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 Grin)

ouryve · 16/07/2015 23:23

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

LittleBearPad · 16/07/2015 23:36

What a lovely thread.

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

Bonsoir Smile

IfNotNowThenWhen · 17/07/2015 10:09

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 Grin 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.

IfNotNowThenWhen · 17/07/2015 10:13

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.

Lashalicious · 17/07/2015 19:22

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.