One more way to know you are a parent

I realized that I forgot one way to know you are a parent...or at least a parent of small children.
*You know the exact sound and feel of stepping on and crushing that one cheerio that you missed sweeping up.

Top Ten Ways to know you might be a parent

After arriving at work this morning, only to look down and find a splotch of spit-up on my shoe, I think it is time I do a post I have been thinking about for awhile. In honor of those of you who have been dealing with sick children, here is a list of how you might determine whether you are a parent:
Top Ten Ways to know you are a parent:
10. You have ever arrived some place and suddenly realized you have a little bit of spit-up/snot/poop/puke on your clothes.
9. You have been so distracted getting dressed that you have arrived someplace and suddenly realized you are wearing two different color socks, two different shoes, or your shirt is inside out/backwards.
8. You are used to referring to yourself in third person. (Mommy is going to go potty now.)
7. You know what I mean by my sister’s phrase about children being “help more work.”
6. You find yourself repeating things at least twice. You find yourself repeating things at least twice.
5. You have ever told someone (a person not a pet) to stop licking the table/floor/window/etc.
4. You have heard strange sentences coming out of your mouth. (My favorite lately was thanks to a box of toys my sister sent along that allowed me to say “Get the hack saw out of the train area.”)
3. You can name all of the characters and sing the theme song to a TV show that is animated or most of the characters are puppets.
2. You have ever picked a booger out of someone else’s nose.
1. You are used to getting interrupted and don’t have time to completely finish a….

Being a parent

This morning I was thinking about how you end up doing and saying things as a parent that it never occurred to you you might do. This morning I was freshly out of the shower when Jo started crying and I went to pick her up. Her nose was running and sure enough she rubbed her runny nose all over my chest.
Maybe it is just that all of my children are so young still that there are things that if I really stopped to think about them would make me just go "ewwww."

I have picked buggers and been forced to eat things that had previously been in someone else's mouth when the boys INSIST on sharing. I have said things that I never dreamed would come out of my mouth...like "get down off the table" or "stop poking that giraffe in your sister's face."

There are also the things that are really hard to do to/with your children because you don't want them to hurt but you know they will be better for it: like holding your child down while they draw blood to determine if there is an infection, or holding them while they get a shot, or trying to get everything clean while you are changing a diaper and the child has diaper rash that you know stings.

Being a parent is one roller coaster ride.

How Sweet

Our Christmas gifts are slowly making their way to homes as we put things away. Yesterday Andy picked up the small embroidered pillow that Jo got for Christmas from her Aunt Jenni. It was in the den and Andy asked me about it. When I said that it was Jo's pillow, he promptly took it down to Jo's room and climbed in the crib and put the pillow down at the end of the bed where he thought her head should go.

Readiness & Modeling

It is amazing to watch children grow and change. They all do it at their own pace. Benchmarks are somewhat useful to know what to expect, but every child does it at his or her own pace. I suppose there are somethings that you can encourage or "train" your child about but from what I have seen there are just somethings that they can't do it, don't show interest, are unwilling to try....and then suddenly the interest is there and the ability follows...often very quickly.
I really think that the ages they put on toys are a bit misleading. There are toys that might be safe for younger children, but (at least so far with my boys) they were not able to really play with the toy for a long time. We have had a puzzle since we were about 1 year old, but the boys didn't show much interest in it (they mainly used the pieces...which had handles...as instruments). Then suddenly when I was unpacking toys at our new house I saw Doug play with one of those shape sorting toys. He was pretty accurate and did it by himself, whereas before he could only do it with a lot of coaching. He then proceeded to floor me at my sister's house because he did a puzzle with 100% accuracy and no hesitations.
I know, also, that playing with older children over the holidays has forever changed Doug & Andy's play patterns. I will be interested to see as we get back to our normal routines what they still do after their exposure to both their cousins and now children of family friends at Nana and Pop's house.

Jo, I think, is about 1 to 2 weeks ahead of where Andy was with physical development. Andy always was my "gross motor" boy. He crawled, walked, etc. almost a full month before Doug did. Well Jo doesn't always choose to crawl still, but she can, and she is definitely able to sit up from a tummy position. She has started pulling up to stand up. She's not cruising along yet, but I think it can't be far behind. She just wants to keep up with her older brothers.
I was actually grateful when I had twins right off the bat, that they didn't have older siblings to try and keep up with. I am reminded, however, how important it is to have that peer group or role model to motivate them to take the next step. I am also thankful that my children are still young enough that most of the time I can make it a peer group of my choice because I do want my children to be able to navigate their own way in this crazy world.

I am reminded that having children is like ripping your heart out of your body and letting it walk around. At least the process of giving them more freedom to roam is gradual...