So I know that I haven’t been on here as much as you would all like me to be lately, and not nearly as much as what we’ve been doing and I have to share. As you can imagine, life with triplets and a 4 year old can be… hectic… at times. But so wonderful at the same time!
Last weekend we went to San Francisco over the holiday and it was amazing. Crazy. And Stressful. But amazing. Vacations with four little ones surely are different than the vacations we used to take with just the two of us, or even with Aiden. Instead of planning tours and excursions from 9am until 9 or 10pm each day, they involve getting up earlier (which is nice – you get to breakfast before the crowds!), meandering through the streets, and just taking a leisurely pace. Little things like a statue are just as interesting as the tour of Alcatraz to a 4 year old, and a parkside lunch with take out from the pier is better than 5 star dining.
But enough about that, at least until I get the pictures off the cameras and on to the computer.
What I really wanted to share is this article:
I read it and thought that I was the only one who found it moving and tear-inducing, until I heard back from other friends. I think we tend to forget. In the midst of day to day life, we get caught up in the “just wait”s and forget about the little things.
Yesterday, Aiden was procrastinating going to bed, and instead brought books out to read to me. At first, it was, I’ll admit, annoying. My 4 year old has found that the way to get out of going to bed is to be cute and adorable and “read” his books to me. And then I thought about it. He saw mommy on the couch, and decided to read her a bedtime story before she went to bed. How darling is that??
And when Valerie is screaming and crying because her brother (the little one, not the big one) stole her favorite toy – the remote – from her, the fact that they are starting to have this dialog between them gets lost in the chaos and noise.
Yesterday Jacen found the toilet paper. Yes, I had to clean up a roll of toilet paper off the floor (all while Jaina tried to escape into our room, and Val once again lost the remote), but the intrigue on his face while the paper just kept coming was priceless.
The water spilt as a kid learns to drink from a cup, the dirt tracked through the house because they discovered how to dig, the drawers of clean clothes that must be refolded because a toddler has learned to empty them… it will all go away some day. And then your child will be driving down the street, on their way to high school, or a first job, or college, and I think I’d prefer to be worrying that they’re going to break an arm falling off a couch than what is going on hundreds of miles away from me. So to all my friends… from someone with triplets and more than her fair share of “UGH” moments where I just wish they’d grow up and stop _____ (fill in the blank here)… remember that some day they really will grow up. And they won’t cuddle on the couch to ready you a story, or cry into your arms when their favorite toy gets stolen by a sibling, or fight over who gets to play with the stopper on the door.
Katie Weatherbee puts it much more eloquently than I in the link above. But remember all the same. “This too shall pass…” But do you really want it to?
