Math is Dumb
I long ago was crowned Alexis' Official Chauffer, which means I spend a lot of time driving her to places and then waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more. It wasn't all that long ago that I made good use of that waiting time -- I worked.
Productivity was at an all time high. Alexis danced and cheered and tumbled while I knocked out all sorts of work.
And then Mila Kool-Aid Man crashed her way into our lives and productivity came to a halt. If she spots me sitting with a laptop, she runs over and key smashes her next novel. It's nothing short of a miracle that she hasn't manage to publish a blog post for me.
Yet. The key word is "yet" because she will make it happen any day now.
I also can't crochet or anything like that with Mila in the room because YOU GUYS. If you pull on the strings, fun things happen! If you pull on them while running, it's even funner!
She's not terribly helpful is what I'm saying.
To be honest, I'm fine with the loss in productivity. Mila may be a handful, but she's MY handful, you know?
It was Monday evening at dance when Mila last crashed my productivity party. There was crafting happening when Mila decided NOPE. NOOOOOPE. The other dance moms that were in attendance at the time commented about the crazy little tornado we call Mila. Of course, there was a comment about how one mom could never do the big age gap thing because "starting over again would be so hard."
Meh. There's always one of those comments.
It was through that conversation that I started to think about how the toddler years aren't really my favorite. I like babies and I like kindergartners. The stuff in the middle has moments of fun, but mostly it's a lot of work. Worthwhile work, yes, but work.
I said as much out loud to the other dance moms.
One replied in agreement. I don't like her any more, though, because she added, "Just when Mila becomes a fun kindergartner, Alexis will be a teen."
I HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT. Four years from now, when Mila is a super fun 5 year-old, Alexis will be 13. She will NOT BE FUN.
I'm just going to go sit in the corner and cry now.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Reader Comments (4)
But you don't have two teens in the house at the same time. That's magic(al).
When I had my babies, I was all YAY I have three babies and a cute toddler and the cuteness is awesome and my life rules. Now they are older and I realize while having them so close was cute then, it's biting me in the butt now. Come May 2016, i'll have a 15 yr old girl and 2 13 yr old girls. Come April 2017 my son will be 13, and my girls will be 16 and 14. Daynah as a teen is hard enough, I'm screwed in a few years. My poor husband is already screwed now, three girls and a wife, our cycles can take over a month lol
Try a 13 year difference--toddler attitude and teen attitude are the exact same thing. The only difference is you can more easily move (remove) the toddler than the teen. I spent about 3 years (mine liked to share the love for an extended period) saying, "All the attitude I can take on any given day." And the Howler had managed to keep a good portion of all the attitude by imitating the teenaged Toad--the eyeroll was a favorite. Her elementary teachers felt the need to remind me that she had a lot of teenager in her, even in Kindergarten.
On the bright side, when the teenager is being a teenager, you still get to revel in the younger kid stuff, and it's more fun, because you already kinda-sorta know what it's about. You don't have to get nostalgic for it, it's still yours to enjoy!
You never know, you might get lucky. Our older girl was sweet and lovable right through the first month of her senior year. Of course then it all came apart at the seams. She had simply pushed everything back -- she came out of it in her early 20's. :-)