I'm Not the Only One

And all this time I thought I was the only one who noticed!

Today while I was playing sergeant, naming all the items that needed to be put away before we could have game night, Bella picked up a couple pairs of her shoes and then exclaimed,

"Hey Mom! I'm just like Daddy!"

After giving her a questioning stare she continued.

"I've left shoes laying all around the house!"

Even though it was out of the mouth of a four year old, it validated all of the feelings I've had about tripping over the various pairs of shoes that Mark leaves around the house.

Protective Brother

He's already proven that he's chivalrous. Remember....he even burps without saying, "Excuse me!"

Well, he came to the rescue yet again. The other morning I heard shrill screams coming from the back patio. The girls had come face to face with a spider.

After investigating the situation, he returned with helmet and sword to declare, "Don't worry! I am the Spider Warrior."

I'm not quite convinced that he was brave enough to come within 2 feet of the thing, but the screams were replaced by giggles and we continued about our business!

And then they do...

It's the day I've been thinking about for quite awhile now.

The day where I could go on my morning jog without pushing the annoying jogger stroller that continuously veers to the right.

The day I could do a load of laundry without having to kick one kid after another out of the laundry room and remind them not to hang on the washing machine door.

The day I could shower in complete silence without having to answer to my name being called 101 times.

The day I could run into store after store and actually get all the things on my list without having to give an uncountable number of reminders to, "Stay close...Watch out for others...Please put the toys back on the shelf....No, we are not going to the bathroom. I just asked if you had to go before we left the house.....No, we are not buying anything this time...and so on and so forth.

The day is here. Last night I packed four lunch boxes instead of just three. I put four kids in play clothes instead of just three, because today, April 7, 2008, my baby, Annie, started preschool.

Mark and I have been discussing for days how traumatic it was going to be for her. She has been attached at my hip since she has been born, wanting to be with me whenever possible. Although she really wants to be like her brother and sisters and spend the night places, she always changes her mind and ends up staying with me in the end.

Little did I know, I would be the one shedding tears upon leaving the classroom. She was perfectly content to find a place at the table and paint a paper plate with her sisters. Not on tear was shed by her eyes, but from mine, they were flowing.

I left the classroom feeling completely alone. There was no one beckoning to me, "Up-ee!" There was no one to buckle into the carseat. There was no one shooting questions at me at a rate of a million per minute. I was even able to listen to "big kid music" on the radio without any complaints from the back seat.

All I could think of were the lyrics to Trace Adkins song, "And then they do."

In the early rush of morning,

Trying to get the kids to school:

One's hanging on my shirt-tail,

Another's locked up in her room.

And I'm yelling up the stairs:

"Stop worrying 'bout your hair, you look fine."

Then they're fightin' in the backseat,

And I'm playing referee.

Now someone's gotta go,

The moment that we leave.

And everybody's late,

I swear that I can't wait till they grow up.

Then they do, and that's how it is.

It's just quiet in the mornin',

Can't believe how much you miss,

All they do and all they did.

You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:

Then they do.

Now the youngest is starting college,

She'll be leavin' in the Fall.

And Brianna's latest boyfriend,

Called to ask if we could talk.

And I got the impression,

That he's about to pop the question any day.

I look over at their pictures,

Sittin' in their frames.

I see them as babies:

I guess that'll never change.

You pray all their lives,

That someday they will find happiness.

Then they do, and that's how it is.

It's just quiet in the mornin',

Can't believe how much you miss,

All they do and all they did.

You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:

Then they do.

No more Monday PTA's,

No carpools, or soccer games.

Your work is done.

Now you've got time that's all your own.

You've been waitin' for so long,

For those days to come.

Then they do, and that's how it is.

It's just quiet in the mornin',

Can't believe how much you miss,

All they do and all they did.

You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:

Then they do.

Ah, then they do.

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