It happened. We had a day of calm. No fighting, no disasters, no huge surprise messes. It was the best day ever.
With 2 toddlers that are 16-months apart, to say that some days are trying is well an understatement. While I love these boys, life is crazy.
I’m not expecting life to be perfect and for every day to go smooth. We have four kids. I expect constant noise, dirty floors, and bickering. That comes with the package, and at this point we wouldn’t know what to do with our lives without it.
Parenting Success Happens
So often as a parent, I feel like a failure. Am I doing it right? Why are the kids not listening to me? Then a parenting success story happened. I feel like this is one of those rare occurrences that should be documented, kind of like if I spotted the yeti or something.
Over spring break, something weird happened. All four of our kids were home. Nothing chaotic happened. Our toddlers were just like the older kids. They weren’t perfect, but for one day, there was NO chaos.
I love these little boys with every part of my being, but they really know how to drain us. From having toilet seats constantly being peed on, to the pantry constantly raided and crackers covering our kitchen floor — it’s nonstop around these parts, but this one day of calm made me think … some day this will all come to an end. There is a light at the end of the toddler tunnel, and it will be here before we know it.
I have heard it a million times, as I know you have as well … “The kids will grow up before you know it.” Time does pass quickly.
The day after my day of sanity, life returned to normal. The boys decided they wanted to make themselves cereal … except they decided to not use a bowl. That’s right, cereal all over the kitchen floor. And you know that they don’t eat cereal JUST in the kitchen. So back to cleaning floors and cereal messes, but it’s part of the job of raising toddlers.
While I still have a few toddler years left, I am starting to see the light. Lord help me enjoy each moment, spilled milk and all.
This post was originally written in 2014 – in the midst of toddler chaos.