Dinosaurs for Sale
Friends, family, and esteemed readers,
I am a blogging failure. I have high hopes of entertaining you, sharing pictures of our sweetest family moments, updating you with my boys' most important milestones, and simply giving you a glimpse into our crazy life. I am a blogging failure. But I WON'T be a Mommy failure, and over that past year especially, it seems the time I take to compose an update for this website is time I take away from the boys. Why, in the past three sentences I had to tell Zachary three times to LEAVE ME ALONE FOR A MINUTE AND LET ME WRITE THIS! And by golly, when we finally get them to sleep, well, I'm asleep too (or at least too mentally exhausted to compose.) But lately I have been reflecting on the years with my babies that have all but vanished... and I wanted to share my thoughts.
You see, we have a room in our house that is full of toys. Toys locked up so they won't be strewn every which way all over the house (though if you come by, you'll see toys strewn about anyway.) Favorite toys of my oldest boys that I've held onto over the years, just in case... trains, action figures, puzzles, and bins and bins of dinosaurs.
But today, no one is interested in the dinosaurs. The younger boys, they have their pirates, their Spiderman shooters, their little electronics. And the big guys, well, they are BIG. They have outgrown their toys. They have outgrown their dinosaurs.
Earlier this month, my firstborn, my preemie Alex
and my roly-poly second son David
had birthdays. Suddenly and unexpectedly they are eleven
and thirteen years old!
Just like that. All the stress and anxieties that came with their earlier years have passed...
....the uncertainty of having our first baby a month early (and, according to our "master life plan", three years early)...
...the fear of a very sick newborn and his emergency surgery...
...the seizures of our second baby...
...and then his crazy super hyper I-don't-know-how-to-control-him toddlerhood...
...the potty-training (everyone's favorite)...
...the whooping cough, the uncontrollable allergies, the childhood illnesses...
...and all those unbelievable things young children do just to test their limits...
...those concerns are all in the past. And now, we have a TEENAGER and another on the way! For the next twenty years, we will have teenage boys in the house. Sometimes one, sometimes two, three, or even four. Those problems that once seemed the end of the world will sound so easy, so trivial. We will soon be navigating the adolescent issues of cars, girls, whiskers, grades, hormones, peer pressure, deodorant, and the like.
And though they may no longer snuggle, don't call me "Mommy" or play with dinosaurs, they are growing, maturing, and changing in ways that make me proud. I'm eager to see what the next thirteen years has in store for us. I'm looking forward to watching them grow into responsible, strong, and holy young men.
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But still, at least for now, I won't offer those
dinosaurs for sale.
Not just yet.
I am a blogging failure. I have high hopes of entertaining you, sharing pictures of our sweetest family moments, updating you with my boys' most important milestones, and simply giving you a glimpse into our crazy life. I am a blogging failure. But I WON'T be a Mommy failure, and over that past year especially, it seems the time I take to compose an update for this website is time I take away from the boys. Why, in the past three sentences I had to tell Zachary three times to LEAVE ME ALONE FOR A MINUTE AND LET ME WRITE THIS! And by golly, when we finally get them to sleep, well, I'm asleep too (or at least too mentally exhausted to compose.) But lately I have been reflecting on the years with my babies that have all but vanished... and I wanted to share my thoughts.
You see, we have a room in our house that is full of toys. Toys locked up so they won't be strewn every which way all over the house (though if you come by, you'll see toys strewn about anyway.) Favorite toys of my oldest boys that I've held onto over the years, just in case... trains, action figures, puzzles, and bins and bins of dinosaurs.
 |
| Dinosaurs at Christmas |
 |
| Dinosaurs to love on |
 |
| Dinosaurs for the baby (Joe) |
 |
| Dinosaurs and dinosaur books at bedtime |
But today, no one is interested in the dinosaurs. The younger boys, they have their pirates, their Spiderman shooters, their little electronics. And the big guys, well, they are BIG. They have outgrown their toys. They have outgrown their dinosaurs.
Earlier this month, my firstborn, my preemie Alex
and my roly-poly second son David
had birthdays. Suddenly and unexpectedly they are eleven
and thirteen years old!
Just like that. All the stress and anxieties that came with their earlier years have passed...
....the uncertainty of having our first baby a month early (and, according to our "master life plan", three years early)...
...the fear of a very sick newborn and his emergency surgery...
...the seizures of our second baby...
...and then his crazy super hyper I-don't-know-how-to-control-him toddlerhood...
...the potty-training (everyone's favorite)...
...the whooping cough, the uncontrollable allergies, the childhood illnesses...
...and all those unbelievable things young children do just to test their limits...
...those concerns are all in the past. And now, we have a TEENAGER and another on the way! For the next twenty years, we will have teenage boys in the house. Sometimes one, sometimes two, three, or even four. Those problems that once seemed the end of the world will sound so easy, so trivial. We will soon be navigating the adolescent issues of cars, girls, whiskers, grades, hormones, peer pressure, deodorant, and the like.
And though they may no longer snuggle, don't call me "Mommy" or play with dinosaurs, they are growing, maturing, and changing in ways that make me proud. I'm eager to see what the next thirteen years has in store for us. I'm looking forward to watching them grow into responsible, strong, and holy young men.
.jpg)
.jpg)
But still, at least for now, I won't offer those
dinosaurs for sale.
Not just yet.
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
--Robert Munsch
Dang it, Michelle...you make me cry every time. I guess it's a good thing you don't blog every day, because I'd surely have to open a Kleenex franchise or something. Love this! Mom
ReplyDeleteAwwwww.....this one made me cry.....probably because I'm in EXACTLY the same place!!! Where in the world are the years going? You're a wonderful Mom, Michelle! Keep it up!!!
ReplyDelete