I Have Kids?

There’s something new that’s happened in my home and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

The boys are often outside now, playing with the neighbour kids.  There’s so many of them, they all have bikes now.  It’s like a little mini bike gang of adorable little boys.  They play SO terribly hard for hours and hour and hours at a time.  It’s the thing I love most about living in a townhouse.  The closeness of neighbours.

The other day the kids got a bocce ball set out and played with it for ages, it was so cute seeing such a big group of them there, playing a semi organized game.

I’ve had to let a few old rules slip.  Guns are now allowed if they are the water variety and they can now watch movies that are a lot scarier than Cars.  I find myself saying things that my mother used to say (that would make me SO mad) like “work it out yourselves”.

Isaac’s knees and elbows are scraped up like crazy and both boys legs are full of bruises.  They are sweaty all the time and they have dirt in places that shouldn’t have dirt in them.  I’m fighting with grass stains and listening to them laugh with their friends about…farts (I still think that’s funny).

I finally noticed something has changed.  I have KIDS now.  I don’t have babies and toddlers and preschoolers.  These guys are full. blown. kids.

Gone are the days of onsies and poopy diapers.  They wipe their own asses.  No more diaper bags and no more mushy food.  No more toddler toys and everyone knows their ABC’s and colours.  I don’t have to worry about childproofing (unless it’s a squirt bottle…Isaac is having a hard time understanding the meaning of POISON!”) or choking hazards.  I don’t have to watch them closely as they play, making sure they don’t fall and break their faces.  We can have them out and about all day and not worry about naps!

I have kids!

I’ve never really liked….”kids”.

I’m learning and growing every day though and now that mine are kids…I like other people’s kids too.

It’s fun to see my boys grow.  I love it when Ikey brings in a bug and plays with it tenderly only to drown it with the hose after.  I love hearing them lost in play, in their own world that they’re creating themselves (who knew Silas would be able to do that!?).  I love that I can make Silas make Ikey feels better after he maims him hurts his feelings.  No one cheers Ikey up like the person who hurt him in the first place.  We have them up, playing outside, until the sun goes down.

It’s nice, though, that once their in and we bathe them and their cheeks are clean and shinning like darling little cherubs.  When we put on their PJ’s and tuck their still-so-little bodies into bed.  I feel like they’re my babies again.