Don't Blink

Over the past 25 months there have been many times where Mrs. LIAYF and I have had long, difficult days of parenting. Of course there were the sleepless nights, the frightening illnesses and the constant hovering in fear of our son hurting himself while learning how to crawl, walk, and run. At times, even the smallest step forward in a developmental stage seemed insurmountable and that Lukas would never progress and be able to do it for himself.
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I know most of my readers are parents and you have been there. Those are the moments, in the trenches, where you earn the right to call yourself a parent. Time can seem to stand still. You feel at times like you are trying to walk through a field of quicksand. But you persevere because you love and adore your child. They are the world to you and though difficult, you wouldn't have it any other way.


But then something happens and you realize, little by little, that the things have changed. That even though it seemed like you would be raising a completely helpless child until the end of days, what you actually have is an independent little person.

You have yourself a child who wants to use the adult toilet instead of his potty. A child who can actually help make his own meals. A child who wants to build a train track and will actually play with it for several days without ripping it apart and tossing it about the living room. A child who is speaking to you in eight and nine word sentences, and making sense.

Then you also realize how amazingly fast that transition occurred. That all those moments when you were tired or were convinced you had had enough, but still put your child's needs above your own, those were well worth it. Your baby is now a little boy.

And you realize in that moment that you are happy (and a little sad too).