To not want my kids to grow up

[LesleyA]

Well besides being grateful that they are growing up naturally is anyone else feeling so sad that the years of them being little and the demands being ‘sweeter’ than school projects, anxiety about getting periods, learning difficulties, lifting, exams etc etc. I’m absolutely yearning for the days that they would giggle, smile with tiny white teeth, smell like bubble bath and a day of fun at bedtime,etc etc

Problem is you don’t realise until it’s too late.

True.
One minute they need collected from school every day, next minute they want to get the bus into town with their pals and you are absolutely terrified!!!

Another thank you from me. I'm in the trenches with little ones, wishing their toddlerhood away and needed that perspective.

The days are long but the years are short
So true.

I rearranged the closet where I keep the family snapshots yesterday. What a trip down bittersweet memory lane was to open those envelopes.

They're now aged almost 19 to 30. Somebody earlier in the thread said adult children cause you more worry and to a large extent I agree with that. You hope they're happy in their independent lives, you feel concern about their studies and their jobs, and you wonder what in God's green earth they see in the boyfriends and girlfriends they drag home to meet you..

It's the books I miss. We read to them every single night, for years and years. We never had babysitters. I wish I'd kept them all, you can't wait to clear away stuff, ready for the next onslaught of things they want.