To ask the small things you LOVE about your DC

[Leothebear]

I am struggling a bit as a mum lately. I often question if i am doing things right and why it is so damn difficult!

But there are some little things about my DC that i find so amazing, just incredible to watch, even during the most difficult day.

This place is to write down the small little things you love. A sort of refresh button during one of those days…to remind ourselves how great it is, watching our kids personality grow! And also…those things that sometimes drive us nuts, they are a lovely part of our kid. We just need to look at them from another perspective.

I will go first:
As an introvert, i love to see how extrovert and friendly and open my DS is! He is able make new friends within minutes everywhere we go.

What a lovely thread!

When new people arrive if 22mo DS feels shy he lies on his front peeking up at them with a little smile - I assume he thinks when he can't see them they can't see him 😭❤️

I love how much my 5 year old DS loves celebrating other people's special days! He was so excited to give birthday gifts to my mum today and is planning to make breakfast in bed for us both on Mother's Day. He came home from school with a Mother's Day card he'd made me and he'd written " I love you so much mum and I like your beautiful oring (orange) hair. Thanks for all the lovely things." I could have cried, especially because I was teased a lot for my red hair as a child/teen and it was just lovely to read he sees it as something beautiful 😍

My daughter is in her mid teens. She's a person who never gives up despite adversity. If she wants to achieve something she tackles it by being methodical and consistent; she sets goals, she shows up, she practises. Some of the things she's achieved are because of years of this quiet, focussed determination. I'd like to say I've taught her these skills but I haven't.

My 3yo dd has a way of saying Mommy I love you which is just totally disarming, and I love the way she interacts with our dog, who is easily twice the size of her. She's definitely the boss though.

DS is 5. He's utterly rubbish in the morning. He wakes up, crawls out of his bed and straight back into ours to wake up slowly. I love those morning snuggles.

Ds1 aged 20 will still pile into our bed on a morning if Dh and I are awake and still in it. Luckily it is a super king bed. He is 5'11".

Ds2 thanks us every day for the lifts we give him to college and back. Especially enthusiastic about it when it is raining. It would be a 45 minute walk otherwise. They also both hug us, put their hand out for a sideways high five, chat to us and we are grateful that we like our children.

They help with anything we want with no complaint, need to help unpack supermarket shopping? They are at the door waiting to take the bags in, they unpack stuff onto the floor and then away in the cupboards. I absolutely love them to bits. And it goes so fast, video them so you can look back at how tiny they were. I am dwarfed by them now.

Due to family trauma and displacement I spent most of my life isolated and lonely. Nothing to do on holidays or my birthday. If I wanted to be with someone, I had to schedule coffee or make a plan - there was no one just to be with.

But last night I was on the couch drinking tea and the kids were messing around playing with a cardboard box they'd filled with blankets and turned into a fort. They were laughing and running around with each other. It was so nice.