I’ve heard about the “sweet spot,” and I’ve read about it too. Usually, it hits when your children are about eight-years-old or older, and you find yourself relaxing – maybe reading a few chapters of a book around a pool because you no longer have to follow a child around who still needs your guidance and protection with every step he or she makes.
Some days I wonder about that “sweet spot” – thinking that I can’t wait for that moment – the moment when my three young boys can run around on their own without me once needing to be interrupted because one of the boys has fallen or one of the boys has pulled the other one’s hair. Or better yet – one (or maybe even two of them, if you are having a really bad day) is having a tantrum in public that puts all eyes on you – making you feel like the worst mom in the world.
Yet, while I long for those days when there’s a little more peace and quiet in my life, I step back and take a look at where I am now. I realize that I’m not quite ready for the “sweet spot” that an eight, ten, and twelve-year-old might grant me.
I’m not ready because I never for one second want to wish these years away when my children are so little and sweet and innocent.
I want to savor these moments when their voices are still so precious and their grammar is terrible. (Here I am an English teacher and a writer, and I pray that my three-year-old never learns the pronoun “I”. I love when he says, “My love you, Mama.”)
I want to hold on to these moments when the boys love Mommy and want to do everything with me – even if it means it will be a few more years before I can head to the bathroom without being followed.
I don’t want to let go of these moments when my children think I am the most beautiful woman in the world…and the best writer…and the best teacher. It’s just so amazing to be the “best” in someone’s eyes. Isn’t it?
And more than anything, I don’t want to let go of these moments when my boys are inseparable – wanting to play together, eat together, and sleep together in one room.
While they tattle on each other, bug each other beyond belief, and sometimes – yes – sometimes, hit each other – these boys have a special bond. I feel so blessed that they love each other so much that I rarely have to organize “play dates”. I love that they play games together, imagine together, invent together, hold hands when they cross the road without my telling them to do so, and I love that they stick up for each other.
It might not quite be the “sweet spot” that I’m currently experiencing – one that I won’t deny I know I will enjoy when the time comes – but, I’m certainly not wishing my present “spot” away any time soon.
Because in my eyes, it’s a sweet spot come early. And if I don’t enjoy it now – if WE ALL don’t enjoy it now – it will pass us by in the blink of an eye. We’ll no longer be able to remember those sweet, little voices that told us every day, “I wuv you, Mama. I wuv you soooo much!” And that tiny little hand being held in our giant-sized hand will only become a faint memory.
So don’t wish THESE sweet moments away. Enjoy EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
And one day – I promise – we’ll all get to that “sweet spot” that we’ve heard so much about. And we’ll have no regrets, knowing that we fully enjoyed every single minute of every single day of the younger years of our children.
We’ll hold on to the precious memories that we shared together, and then – so we don’t get too nostalgic – we’ll look forward to the unforgettable memories and sweet moments that lie ahead.