Milestones.
I am approaching a major birthday this week. I usually do not dwell very much on aging or birthdays – in fact, we are usually traveling and very busy in the summer and the mom & dad birthdays usually are an afterthought in our house. This time, I asked for a party at home. Just an evening with all of us and our friends and family, one night to enjoy life.
As I look at celebrating 40 years of living, I realize I am pretty happy with my life. I have had some amazing opportunities, some definite challenges, and lots of fun along the way! My kids keep me on my toes, every day. This week’s adventures? Cleaning out kid rooms. After one very exhausting day of badgering (by me) and begging (also by me), both of my littles managed to agree to give away several big toys and/or sets of toys that they no longer play with. Marie Kondo I am not, but I’m pretty impressed with getting kid agreement on clearing out some of the small department store that resides in our house. After 15 years of toy collecting, and with my youngest at 4 ½, we have finally managed to clear out almost all of the “baby” toys that have been with us for so long.
Each milestone with my kids has been so amazing. The baby stage, cuddling, learning to crawl and walk and talk, figuring out how things work, watching them learn – all so unbelievably cool. We record all of those special memories for our kids – ok, for our first kid, and then mostly for the rest – let’s be honest. I have a full, real scrap book for my oldest for her baby book, and another that covers her up to the age of 4. After that, I incorporated the other two into the family photo books that we give annually to all the grandparents. One of these days I’ll circle back and make a real baby book for the other two – hopefully before they graduate high school! But my point is, that we all do a great job of keeping track of those milestones for our kids. Do you keep track for yourself?
I am not so good at this. I have three busy kids, and I spend a lot of time each day making sure they are doing whatever they are supposed to be doing – whether it is a lesson or practice, meals, or just keeping busy with something that doesn’t involve the TV or devices for a good chunk each day (I am not super restrictive on the screen time, but I either let them watch cartoons in the morning or one movie in the afternoon, and try to stick with that…sometimes with more success than others). I spend a lot of time playing mom’s taxi to all of their various stuff. And I spend a lot of time keeping track of everyone’s schedules and figuring out how we can mesh them all together.
I do not take time to work out specifically – my reality is that, with my husband gone during the week, I can’t really leave the house to go early in the morning (my preferred time), even with the teenager home – she is not a morning person! In addition, I am just not a fan of heading to a gym. I love swimming laps, and my goal this summer is to make it over to lap swim more often…but another reality is that our city pool is only open for three months. So, workout videos. Which I have…and they just aren’t exciting.
For years, I have said that chasing kids is my workout. Which, really, it is. However, I know that I am not in great shape. I am not in horrible shape – I can ski for 3-4 hours and not feel completely exhausted, and I can keep up with the kids, and I can walk all over any major city (our last exploration of a new city included one day of walking 24,777 steps) without too much trouble. But I am not in the shape I want to be in. This is one of my goals – to get into the shape that I am happy with for myself. So, I’m going to call this my 40’s resolution. To exercise more, and to try to set some goals for myself, outside of being a wife and mom.
What other milestones do we have, as adults? As parents?
My youngest is 4 ½. We are past all of the baby stage, she has been out of diapers for over a year, and we are way past all of the toddler stuff too. I am so enjoying this stage! She is also sassy (she has big sister as an example), and she asks so many questions! She loves dressing up, playing any princess, telling stories, and painting her own nails.
Our son is 7 ½. He is a voracious reader, loves all sports, and always wants to figure out how things work. And I am thankful every day that he hasn’t broken any bones yet – he can be a little klutzy – but he goes out there and gives everything his all, and he tries new things. We just moved out some giant stuffies and some race tracks from his room, and one train set from the family room. He’s into anything LEGO, building things, riding his bike, and swimming.
I have a sassy 15-year-old girl, who is very opinionated and also very mature for her age. She currently has her driver’s permit and is actually a very good driver. Her number one goal this year is getting her license. She has completed the driver’s education course, and has more than half of her required driving hours done already – with six more months to go until her sixteenth birthday. Now, it’s really only a matter of time. And I can’t wait until she can help with some of the pick-up and drop-offs for her brother and sister!
My personal goals really haven’t changed much in recent years. I want to continue to take on new clients and projects that interest me, keep up with my kids, and try to get as much family time as we can, however we need to make that happen. Eventually, I want to grow my business again, but that is more of a long term goal than a current one (for after the youngest starts Kindergarten, which is another year down the road). My milestones are truly tied to my family. Their milestones are mine. I want each of my kids to be healthy, happy, and well-adjusted. I want my husband to reach his goals. And I want to have fun and live life to the fullest!
So, as I approach 40, I am reminded of all that I have. I have a wonderful family, friends who are fun to hang out with – whether we see each other every week or once or twice a year – and I am very blessed. I have new challenges to take on…including getting myself in better shape. I am looking forward to every day and every challenge – bring on the next decade!