I nursed all my kids too----I figured that I nursed babies for about 5 years total. Nursing, changing, rocking, dishes, laundry, cheerios, sweeping and sweeping the floor, sippy cups, milk allergies, fructose allergies, doctors appointments, pregnancies. . . .
Well, the last Stotler child, unless God should do things differently than we have planned for, is now potty trained. And it is the end of an era.
My parenting is changing. I am seeing a tiny bit about how God designed it, a little better than I could see it before. When I was younger I needed all that energy to endure the interrupted sleep, the carrying of the kids around everywhere, the non-stop movement required when a little one starts walking, or putting things in their mouths, or is running toward your couch with an ink pen.
Now it is refereeing---or it could be. It is teaching self-control, and worse yet, it is modeling self-control. It is teaching by BEING. And as hard as diapers were, this is a different kind of hard. Is it as physically and mentally taxing as days on end of baby care? No, it is not. But it is a drive -you-to-your-knees, seek-God kind of hard.
My kids are like little flower buds now, when one leaf is just starting to open. I can get a little glimpse of what is inside there, what color it is, or the scent, but I can't fully see the flower because it isn't fully opened yet. And I have to help take care of the flower so that it blooms in the right way.
And this is terrifying.
Without God's help and wisdom, I will fail in this endeavor. Yes, parents: without His wisdom, you will fail in this effort. And you can be a child of God, and still fail, if you don't instill His wisdom in your children. But to instill it, you have to have it too. So this season requires less sleep, because I should be praying and studying more. And it requires a quiet physical stamina to "do the right thing" at all times-----and no cup of coffee is going to make that happen.
So it is a bittersweet end. But I am looking forward to this new "season". I would be lying if I say I don't daydream, and sometimes hold in my mind, each of my "babies" from time to time.
And my youngest might forever bathe in Johnson&Johnson.
No bottles, no bibs, no
sippy cups,
No more diapers, just
Pull-Ups.
Wet wipes now used only on
faces,
No planning naps around
going places.
No more Gerber Puffs or
jars,
You’ve moved on to trucks
and cars,
How in the world can it be
My last baby has turned
three!
No struggle to understand
your words,
No worry that you won’t be
heard.
Growing up quicker than
the others,
(Need to keep up with your
brothers).
Get your own snack and
pick up your toys?
You’ve learned much faster
than the other boys!
Time creeps quietly and
steals away
Pieces them, day by day.
My motherhood is changing
too,
We get more sleep, and
there’s less. . . ewwww.
Lots to teach and lots to
learn
My rank, I find, I have to
earn.
So get your blankie, and
climb on my lap
And let me rock you for a
rare nap.
The laundry can wait, and
supper can too
For I just want to cuddle
with you.
The day is coming when you’ll
prefer another,
And I learned by raising
the others---
That one day I’ll wake
inside and yearn
To hold the baby you once
were.
Many changes coming to
me----
My little one is wonderful
three.
--Sandra Stotler
May God richly bless you in your season of parenting. Love to you all on this fine day.
Sandra
