Motherhood in 5 years

When I can, I'm joining From Mrs. to Mama in her 52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose.  I'm enjoying the chance to be candid about my motherhood journey and I hope to hear from you in the comments section at the end of my posts.  Where do you think your life will be in 5 years?


There's truly no telling where any of us will be in 5 years; that's not really for us to know, is it?  But I got a little misty eyed as I was writing this post, just thinking about my life now and where I'll be in the future.

Right now, my life is the above picture.  I'm in little kid mode.  Everything about my home and my day is structured around 3 children, ages 4 & under.  We've been using our high chair for the past 4 years and I'm constantly sweeping the floor.  But it's still messy.  And it never ends.

In 5 years, my baby will be nearly six.  My toddler will be seven and my oldest child will be nine.  Nine!
All three will be potty trained!!!  Perhaps all three will be able to read.  And maybe one or two of the kids will be able to bathe themselves too.

When toys disappear for a month or two at a time, I might actually miss them instead of stumbling upon them while reorganizing the dresser & closet.

There won't be a huge need for eating ice cream cones in the bath tub, because the kids will be old enough to eat them without dripping everywhere.

Right now, my life is filled with unicorns and dinosaurs.  My little girl lives and breathes for dressing up.  She sleeps in her Cinderella dress and fairy wings, unless her Daddy can convince her to take the wings off.  But when she wakes up in the morning, the wings come on again.  

This is the time when the days are long but the years are short.  I'm tired all the time because my baby still wakes up at night, and I just can't tell him no.  It was easier with my first and second.  But with my third?  I just baby him.  And some days are so hard.  Like Dory in Finding Nemo, I say just keep swimming, just keep swimming until I make it to nap time.  Then I say the same thing, with the hopes that I can make it to bed time with some shred of sanity and without completely losing my patience with these precious little ones.  

My babies won't really feel like babies in 5 years.  They'll feel like kids.  Big kids.  

We'll be in the throes of homeschooling.  I'll be back in the world of teaching & curriculum that I left 5 years ago, and instead of play dates, we'll have field trips and outings with a local homeschool group. 

But I hope some of our days still look like this:  Jammies, fairy wings, a quilt mommy tried to make, and a good book.

And yes, I hope God gives me another baby in these next 5 years.

Maybe I'm not ready to leave the cheerios & diapers just yet.

Your turn:  Where do you see your life in 5 years?