Yesterday’s blog was all about nostalgia and what I miss about having little ones.  Today is all about reality and what I don’t miss about little ones….

1.  I don’t miss diaper bags and dragging around the gear that comes with babies.  Now it’s morphed into hockey, dance and swim bags but the kids are responsible for hauling their own gear around now.

2.  I don’t miss the structure and strictness of nap schedules.  If the kids are tired now they sleep where they are or they go to bed.  There are no more cranky toddlers.

3.  I don’t miss cranky toddlers, period!

4.  I don’t miss finding Cheerios all over the place.  Now I find all kinds of other things but no more Cheerios.

5.  I don’t miss dirty hands smearing things all over the walls, furniture, me.  Now I can tell them to go wash their hands and they will, mostly, comply.

6.  I don’t miss pushing a stroller around or lugging it in and out of cars.

7.  I don’t miss spelling words so the kids don’t understand.  If I need to talk to somebody about something I don’t want the kids to know about, I have to make concerted effort to do so but I don’t have to resort to spelling words.

8.  I don’t miss the lawn being littered with abandoned toys.  Now it’s the garage that’s full of all of the kids’ abandoned toys.

9.  I don’t miss counting to three.  I always wondered what I was going to do when I got to three anyway.

10.  I don’t miss changing diapers ~ AT ALL!  I am SOOOO glad I’m only responsible for one bottom again!

11.  I don’t miss being puked on.  I don’t miss spit up on my shoes, clothes, in my hair or in my mouth (yes, a baby ~ not one of my own~ puked right into my mouth when I was a brand new mama).

12.  I don’t miss cribs, pack and plays or high chairs.

13.  I don’t miss car seats and strapping in a screaming, bucking baby.  I always felt like I was torturing my babies when I had to use superhuman strength to restrain them long enough to get the harnesses to click.

14.  I don’t miss wiping drool and snot off dirty faces.

15.  I don’t miss the excruciating pain that came with a newborn learning how to latch on when every nerve ending in my boob would catch fire and spread through my entire body.

So today, I focused on the present and enjoyed the stage where my kiddos are right now because while I can look back on their days of being little with nostalgia the reality is while babies are sometimes sweet-smelling and lovable they are a lot of work.  The reality is focusing on the present is the only way to fully embrace the day to day joy of being a mama.

Oh, for the love of my children….