I can't believe Kyle is 5.
Or that Kelly will be 4 years old in two months.
I won't have a toddler anymore then.
The changes have been happening but I haven't really noticed. It's the strangest things that sneak up on you to point out the kids are growing up. We don't own a stroller anymore. A stroller, the basic symbol of having a very young child in your life. We used to have a triple stroller, 2 double strollers, and countless single and umbrella strollers. It seems so weird to me that we don't even own one now. I don't remember getting rid of the last stroller either, shouldn't I have made a big deal of this "last"?
I'm not sure I'm ready to move onto the next phase and completely leave behind baby/toddlerhood. I'm good at babies and toddlers. 5 kids in 5 years, it's baptism by fire. Throw me in a room of newborns and 2 year olds and I know what I'm doing. Instead this whole school age thing is definitely weird.
I guess it'll be like first time motherhood, you make it up as you go, learn from your mistakes, etc. But it seems like screwing something up with an 8 year old (like letting her ride her bike down the street alone) is a lot scarier than using the wrong diaper rash cream. Is there a "What to Expect The Ninth Year" book?
I've been paying more attention to news stories and statistics of older children. And I'm not particularly thrilled with the direction things may go. I feel shocked half the time, what you mean 11 year olds are doing that?!?! Zach's 4 years away from being a teenager. I still remember my teenage years, I don't particularly want to be in the house with any teenagers again any time soon.
I think the scariest part is the lack of control. I like being in control and I definitely do not do well when I'm not. Just ask Greg when I'm freaking out on the interstate because we're stopped in traffic for no apparent reason. When the kids were babies I could control just about everything, where we went, what they ate, who they could see. Now I can feel that kind of control slipping away bit by bit.
I hate that it seems like just as soon as I got good at the game, the rules are all changing. There surely is a book out there on how to parent school age kids and pre-teens. And if there's not, I'm going to stalk every one of you blogger parents with kids in that age range. Cause all of a sudden decisions like "nursing vs formula" seem very trivial compared to what is coming next.
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