The Power of Water

Sometimes I have to actively remind myself that parenting is a season. With each season comes its’ challenges as well as its huge successes. Right now…well…we’re in a season to say the least and it’s not a season I’ve been particularly enjoying most of the time (if I’m being honest).

The meltdowns are epic, the mood swings can throw me for a loop quite frankly but on the other side of that, the language development, the awareness of what’s going on around her has dramatically shifted (for the positive) as well.

School plays a huge role for this with my kiddo and school lately has been exhausting because school lately has taken a turn for the more demanding. In a good way. She can handle it. She’s bright and she’s funny and she’s determined. I’m astounded everyday with the things she’s learning because I felt like I didn’t have those things mastered when I was her age.

So I feel like when you sit back and reflect on the bigger picture, the extremes can be justified because of the amount of growth going on in her brain and in her little body (which I swear is almost as big as mine). Like on some subconscious level, it has to be exhausting to be learning everything she’s learning and growing as quickly as she seems to be growing.

School definitely pushes her in all of these regards and she comes home absolutely wiped. When she’s wiped, tears are usually the go to answer for everything that doesn’t go her way, no matter how big or small. Luckily she’s getting to the point where she can recognize and verbalize that she’s tired and that’s why she’s overreacting. Again, leading to my amazement because she’s 3. That’s amazing to me for a 3 year old.

Anyways, the one thing I know with her that will always calm her down is water. I don’t know if it’s because I swam so much when I was pregnant that she knows water in the recesses of her brain to be a calm place or if it’s just in her given nature. Regardless, school days mean bath days right after school because it gives her time to get out some wiggles and to wind down.

Our thing has always been to test the water by my holding her up high and then slowly dipping her toes into the bath water. Like a squat while you’re holding a wiggly weight to your chest. Except the weight is almost as long as you are tall and wants to be lifted wayyyy above your head.

Initially this was a good idea. Initially she was only like 25 pounds so really it wasn’t that much to hold up that high for that long. But now…holy moly…I went to hold her up the other day and had to brace myself against the side of the tub because she’s topping 40 pounds. Add in the water and I swear she’s over 40.

It just makes me laugh. Because life could be harder, things could be worse and really if the heaviest part of my day is holding her, then life truly is good. And then I laugh a little more because I wonder how I’m going to hold her up when she’s like 60 pounds and taller than me. But us mamas always figure out that kind of stuff right?

The Power of Self Care

I know I’ve been burning the candle at both ends lately. I’m very well aware of that and I know I’m not alone in that sentiment. That’s how life goes though sometimes right? There’s literally not enough hours in the day to get all the things done on my To Do List. So I just keep plugging away, prioritizing what absolutely has to get done every day.

I know that when things get this busy, my kiddo definitely takes notice because she hears me saying more often than not that I am going to work while she plays. While I always have time to spend with my best little one, I know we're all adjusting to the new pace of these days.

But I didn't realize just how much things had changed until today. I got Gracie from school and we were off on our normal post-school routine, full of snacks and meltdowns (because sometimes that's how life goes), when Grace told me that she was my doctor and I needed to lay down.

So I'm thinking 'ok we're playing Doctor' but not for Grace. She proceeded to tell me that I was working too much and I needed to relax, but not to worry because she would take care of me. Since I'm totally ok with laying down in my super comfy bed, in the middle of the day nonetheless, I laid down and Grace took every blankie she owned and laid it on me. Then she told me to close my eyes and relax so I would feel better. 

You would think this was relaxing and maybe in an ideal world it would have been. But when the toddler is crawling all over you, stepping on your hair and your limbs to organize her blankies, it's maybe not so relaxing for some.

But I relished that moment. Not just because I got to close my eyes for 5 minutes but because my kiddo showed me just how observant she was in our lives as well as how compassionate she's becoming. She also reminded me that even when I'm on a roll of productivity, I still need to remember the power of taking care of myself because when I feel rejuvenated, I can give my best to everyone and everything around me.