This month Reese turned 5 years old! Wow! How time really does fly! I can hardly recall how he turned into this little boy. While I am now a seasoned pro at motherhood (if there is such a thing), I still feel like every day is an experiment. To be honest, most days I still have no clue what I am doing. Not just with Reese, but with all of them. Letting go and letting them grow is such a hard thing to do as a mother!
Reese is going through this stage where he is a big boy, but he's still a baby. Recently he has started to want to pour his own milk. Hmmmm....when a mother has to pour milk for everyone this seems like a great idea, but when the milk he pours goes all over the counter and floor and I have to clean it up, it seems like it would have been a better idea just to do it myself. He also wants to take a shower on his own, wash his own hair, brush his own teeth and go into the men's bathroom alone. Yikes!! How good am I at really letting go and letting him be independent?
Addison (3 and a half) is constantly testing boundaries and pushing her independence (remind you of anyone?). I love that about her and despise it all at the same time. Do I give in because she asked for a piece of candy using both "May I" and "Please" even after she asked her dad and he said no. Of course I don't, but it is so tempting! She loves to dress herself! Its so cute what she picks out just because her plaid shirt is pink and her striped pants are purple! Letting go of that one is so hard for me, because the pants that go with that plaid shirt and the shirt that goes with those stripe pants make the cutest outfit (with their respective other half). I almost always let her chose what she wants to wear even though I cringe the entire time! Photos will probably prove to be fantastic memories someday!
Griffin (18 months) just wants to run! He is what we call in our house a "ram rod". He is crazy!!! He has so much energy and is the happiest when he is running wild! He is famous for picking something up and throwing it across the room. Nothing has been broken yet, but I am guessing he will be the first to throw a baseball through a window. He bangs things, he throws things, he climbs things and he tackles things. It's nothing short of hilarious to watch his caveman-like instincts! Of course I need to teach him some control, but I want to nurture the fact that he is athletic and active and just let him go wild!
Paige is so little but still gaining independence every day! She is almost 11 weeks old (I think)...(I can't remember how many weeks old she is anymore. There are a lot of kids ages to remember around here! ) For example, she holds her own head up and smiles when we talk to her. Those are easy steps in her growing! Sleeping arrangements seem to be my problem! She still sleeps next to our bed in her car seat. She sleeps in her carseat because she has acid reflux, which none of our kids have ever had before. I could probably put her in her room in her car seat, but she is the last baby we will ever have in our room and I am just not sure I am ready to let that go.
Each step they takes toward independence is both rewarding and frightening all at the same time. I know that one day not far from now I will be sending them to elementary school, then junior high and eventually high school and off to college. I know all of those steps will be much harder than these little ones, but letting go is just not something mother's are equipped to do very easily! Hopefully by the time they are ready to get married and have children of their own, I will be ready....until then I will work on perfecting this task of letting go.
