Ten years ago, life was different. I had a newborn and a toddler and was trying to teach a five-year-old to read, while also trying to make meaningful progress teaching a seven-year-old. I can barely remember it now. How did I do it all? I don't quite know. Twelve years ago was really tough. Starting school with a five-year-old, a pre-schooler screaming through the night with eczema, and a baby who seemed to cry all. the. time.
Mammas of littles, life does get easier. There are the things you are probably already looking forward to being over - nappies (diapers), waking multiple times a night, needing to constantly supervise everything from bath-time to meal-time... There are so many things that change as kids get older, it can be hard to imagine what life is like. For me, it really is easier. I can actually relax at a swimming pool - in fact, I don't even have to get in anymore. I can leave at least some of the kids home on a shopping trip. I can say, "I'm making a phone call now," and shut the door and not worry what the house will look like when I get out.
Some stuff gets harder too, especially in a big family (funny, our family doesn't seem "big" to me, but it is by western standards). My older kids really need to be waking up early, but some days the five-year-old needs to sleep in. That comes with complications, especially since the big kids doing the dishes don't want extra dishes several hours after they get up. I have a teen that needs 120 hours of driving instruction. And in six months there will be another teen in line for that. And then another...
My oldest girls are dealing with big decisions about their future direction and beliefs. The very oldest is looking to me for help with getting a job and learning many skills to navigate the adult world.
Family movie night is increasingly complicated. There are things I *want* my big girls to see or hear that are totally inappropriate for littles. There are deep and serious conversations that I need to have with some of my older girls on their own... but as bed-times get later, and younger ears are more tuned in to private conversation, that gets more complicated.
Some days, I really would like to hit pause. With increasing independence, there come more opportunities for mistakes that I have to help clean up, and often those seem to come all at once. Yesterday it was a broken guinea pig water bottle at the same time as a gate left open and goats out. Closely followed by the neighbour's goats getting onto our property.
I'm very happy to have the baby and toddler years behind me. I'm very, very thankful for where we are now, both in place and time. It's definitely easier. But some days it is harder at the same time!
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