I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the line, “oh enjoy this time, it goes by so fast.”  I’m certain almost every parent has said this to someone with younger kids at some point.  These song lyrics by Trace Adkins get me every time,

You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These Are Some Good Times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this

In our experience, IT DOES NOT GO BY FAST!  This has been the longest 3 years of our lives.  Yes, we have had some amazing experiences and moments with our sweet boy, but it has in no way, shape or form gone by fast.

I remember at the beginning, when I was in extreme pain from a broken tailbone after delivering my 9 pound 5 oz. baby, nursing was almost unbearable for 4 weeks (and he was nursing every 1.5-2 hours for what seemed like forever), and we were mentally and emotionally drained from the whole process of learning how to take care of such a helpless human being.  I remember my mom saying, “just take it one feeding at a time.”  I would dread bedtime because I was SO tired, in a lot of pain and knew that getting a stretch of sleep longer than 2 hours was not in the cards for me.  Then, when I finally got that 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I felt like a new person!  I started to see the light, and then bam, ear infection!  Bam, teething!  Bam, another ear infection! More teeth, flu, sleep regression, more teeth, croup, and on and on and on.  This is the reality of having a child, and boy was I not prepared.  Just when I thought I had finally gotten the hang of it, something changed and I was thrown once again.

This may rub some people the wrong way, but if I’m going to be real, I must say that I never understood why people who have the ability to have children in one way or another, choose not to.  It’s something that I always wanted and thought everyone else should want too.  I now respect and fully understand that choice of leading a life without children.  These people must understand what it takes to be a parent and either don’t think they have it in them or just choose a different lifestyle.  I get it.

That being said, and despite the rough times, I do know that we will never look back and wish we didn’t have children or these experiences.  Don’t get me wrong, there have been times when my husband and I have looked at each other and said, “wouldn’t it be nice to sell everything and take off to Costa Rica to live the simple life” or “what if we just worked our butts off for 10 more years, retired, and were free for our last 60 years.” I’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again….it’s the little moments that make it all worth it…the snuggles, watching him learn new things, the funny phrases he comes up with, and the fact that he is a result of the love my husband and I share.  If we didn’t get any joy back in return from this little guy, I can’t even say that we’d feel differently.  There’s just a bond that exists that is unexplainable.  For example, I cannot wait until he goes to bed at night, then after he finally falls asleep after fighting me for an hour, I miss him.  WTF?!?

When looking back, I’m not convinced that I will miss the day to day with this little toddler, but I do know I will miss the little moments and the fact that he truly needs me.   There will be a day when he won’t want to give me a hug and a kiss goodbye, he won’t need me to tie his shoes and kiss his boo boos, and he most definitely won’t want to snuggle with me on the couch while watching Curious George.  I try to remind myself of these things every day, especially on the days when I’d much rather be in the office than dealing with another epic tantrum.

I’m not sure that I will ever make the statement to someone with a screaming toddler in the grocery store that they should enjoy this time and it goes fast, but I will say, “take it one day at a time and just soak in the good moments whenever they come.”