I don't know if it's a phase or a mood or just something to do with the weather, but my son has been extraordinarily clingy lately, especially at bedtime. He wants me to lay down and cuddle with him whenever I tuck him in bed (a lovely little time during which I admit I have fallen asleep while scrunched onto one side of his little twin bed with the lights still glaring and me still in my work clothes) or he wants to come sleep with me.
I've always allowed him to sleep with me occasionally, usually on a weekend night or if he's sick or something. Almost never on a weeknight since it's considered a "treat" and, let's be real, I don't sleep as well with him next to me. (Between his wriggling and somehow managing to hog the entire bed with his little 4-foot frame, it's not generally a good night's rest. I can make up for that on the weekend, but it leaves me dragging on a work day.)
But I confess, weekday be damned, I have indulged his requests of late. I could blame some streak of parenting nostalgia or a mushy mood of my own, but in reality it's a creeping awareness of the changes that are coming in my life. It won't be that much longer before that spare side of my bed will be taken up with a big ole' snoring man (and talk about hogging all the bed!). There won't be room for my little guy to cuddle up with me for the night, so I'm taking all the chances I can get right now.
That got me thinking, though, about some of the things I will and will definitely not miss about being a single parent. (For the record, I've been alone with my son since his infancy, so I've really not been anything but a single parent for most of his life, making this whole being married and being a mom thing a bizarrely new experience for me).
THINGS I'LL MISS:
-Naptime (Yes, I can sneak them in on weekends right now when my son is watching a movie or something. I can't imagine being able to do that with three kids in the house.)
-Easy dinners (I can throw together grilled cheese or French toast or spaghetti for two in a jiffy. Takes a bit more planning to feed five, including three growing and perpetually hungry boys.)
-Autocracy (I won't be able to reign unchecked in my house with another parent there. Boo for compromise!)
-Quiet time (Did I mention the three boys?)
-Clean bathrooms (See note above.)
On a happier note (and so Mike won't think I'm dreading marrying him), here are the THINGS I DEFINITELY WON'T MISS:
-Mowing the lawn (yep, that just became his job)
-Candy Land (Hey, there are two other age-appropriate players joining the household. Let them have at it.)
-Trying to squeeze every errand and chore I've got into the two hours between school and bed. (How nice it'll be to be able to have a spare pair of hands to start dinner while I help with homework or something.)
-Quiet time (Yes, I know that's on both lists, but as much as I sometimes enjoy quiet time, I've also known it to be "lonely time," and I'm looking forward to having a house full of voices like the one I grew up in.)
There are not comprehensive lists, and I'm certain I'll encounter surprises along the way -- things I never dreamed I'd miss or be glad to have banished from my life. All of it feels very much like an adventure. Sometimes it feels like the kind of adventure Aron Ralston might have, but an adventure all the same.
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