Saying Goodbye To The Baby Days

With only a few hours left before I turn the grand old age of thirty I've come to the realisation that as I'm getting older so are my girls (I know this should have been obvious). At the weekend I sold my last remaining pushchair and with that I said goodbye to the baby days because there is now nothing left in my house that we used when they were little. It is kind of a bitter sweet moment as I'm not entirely sure that I was ready to leave that part of my life behind.

There seems to be an array of positives and negatives to the children getting older. I mean when you have a baby you have the excuse of napping when they nap, now I'm just left wishing I could curl up in the afternoon and have a "disco nap" to give me an energy boost, instead I rely on my friend coffee.

But on the flip side of this babies love to wake up during the night and they have no concept of lie ins (parents see these as a myth) but I'm here to tell you that when your kids start growing up they also learn to love their beds and no longer want to vacate their pits at the crack of dawn. This is when we mums get a little payback as the tables are turned and we get the chance to wake them up when it's still dark outside and demand that they get out of bed!

Cuddles and kisses seem to be a rarity now, apart from them not being as willing to dish them out, they are also a tad to big to craddle in my arms. Nowadays the TV and Xbox appear to get more love than I do, although I can be guaranteed some sort of affection when food is offered to them, a bit like animals at the zoo.

Pushchairs, I already miss them, lets be honest they do come in handy, the baby strapped in, you knew where they were at all times, no threenagers trying to run off in the opposite direction to where you want to be going and we all know that they are the best at carrying your shopping for you but I guess these days I have my children to carry the bags for me instead (you can't tell me you don't do this too!).

Gone are the days of needing to take everything except the kitchen sink out with you every time you leave the house, now all I need is a packet of baby wipes (ok so I still have one baby item remaining) because you must all be aware that these are an essential whether you have kids or not. This also means I can pick any handbag I like instead of needing an industrial sized changing bag to fill with numerous "just incase" items.

Nappies and changing bums are a thing of the past, now I get to contend with the younger ones wanting to wear Frozen costumes at all times and needing a wee at the most inappropriate moments. Then there's the older ones already wanting to bare more skin than I will ever find acceptable but on a positive note my older two have almost reached the stage of being able to share clothes with me, the advantage of being a complete short arse!

I may have said goodbye to the baby days but I'm now getting to say hello to another era, the miss independent one. Time to make some new memories and learn a bit more about myself as a parent because there isn't a book that can prepare you for these changes, us as parents and our children learn together. With age comes wisdom or atleast a little more know how and I guess with my kids all becoming more independent I get to step back a little and watch them flourish rather than worry so much I'm more content in letting them make their own mistakes just as I do myself.