One bit of advice that everyone always seems to want to pass on to parents is "Enjoy it because you are going to miss this one day." I have to admit whenever that advice has been given to me my response ranges from a polite smile, an eye roll, or thoughts of maiming. While you are in the trenches day to day it is difficult to understand how you will ever miss the fighting, hitting, sleepless nights, poopy diapers, vomit covered sheets and carpets, struggles to get kids to just try a bit of dinner you spent an hour preparing, running the carpool to this place or that, cleaning crayon off the wall or the fridge or the dishwasher, full tantrums in public places, working on homework projects you found out about the day before it was due, riding It's a Small World over and over and over again...the list could go on and on. Who in their right mind would miss any of this.
Then one day you look out the kitchen window and see the four kids working together to plant raspberry and blackberry bushes and for a brief moment in time you long to simply freeze this moment. Keep them happy and carefree for just a bit longer. Enjoy them running around the house chasing each other with giggles of delight. Enjoy waking up to four kids jumping in your bed screaming "it's Christmas, it's Christmas!" Having a two year old throw his little arms around you and saying "I love you momma." And I realize that in this moment that "they" are right. One day I am going to miss "this" and I will look at a mother in the grocery store struggling with her four kids and think to myself, "enjoy it because you are going to miss this one day."
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