i think this is bs. the days are long and the years are long. i haven't slept regularly in 9 years bc my kid has issues.

It's a very weird feeling to both hate your current situation AND realize they are the best days of your life. I am so nostalgic already, but also so anxious for it to end.

Anonymous wrote:I know. I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old and I keep hearing "it goes by so fast" but honestly these have been the longest 3 years of my life (4 if you include my first pregnancy). Sometimes I think about 3 whole years from now, literally double everything I've done so far, and I realize that I will STILL have little kids, and it doesn't seem like the years are short at all lol.

I just try to stay really really present and not think about the past or the future. That's on the advice of my therapist and it helps. Sounds a little homey but it helps.

*a little HOKEY

I know. I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old and I keep hearing "it goes by so fast" but honestly these have been the longest 3 years of my life (4 if you include my first pregnancy). Sometimes I think about 3 whole years from now, literally double everything I've done so far, and I realize that I will STILL have little kids, and it doesn't seem like the years are short at all lol.

I just try to stay really really present and not think about the past or the future. That's on the advice of my therapist and it helps. Sounds a little homey but it helps.

It is very hard to adjust to becoming a parent. The toughest stage for us was the first two years as I was nursing and the baby was not sleeping. Every other issue since then, through the school years, through college etc - was a piece of cake.

DH and I like having children and being a family. We have a good relationship and both of us have really worked hard on it too.

I’m one of three and my parents will happily tell me about what a fricking circus it was until they became empty nesters. But I swear they will say it was the happiest years of their lives. I’m beginning to get it. I brought my kids into this world and it’s a zoo everyday but it’s my zoo and I just try to survive it.

I have kids 6, 4, 2 and I’m pregnant first tri so I feel sick half the time. It’s so exhausting I wonder how I even found the time to get pregnant. But today my 6 year old came home from school with a note he wrote saying how much he loved his mommy and that I was cool. When my 4 year old came home from pre-school after a long day all she wanted to do was cuddle with me. These moments make it totally worthwhile.

Raising toddlers and preschoolers is simple but not easy.

Raising teenagers is easy but so, so far from simple. Yes, they are independent in terms of self-care but it’s a fricking mindfield of emotions, fears, expectations, true dangers... I could go on and on.

When I was raising little ones, I would fall asleep on the rare occasions my head was able to hit my own pillow. With teenagers I have lots of time in my bed but worries keep me awake way too often.

Bottom line: parenthood means being tired all the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t sound fun. Why keep having kids? Consider birth control after this pregnancy.

You should consider being a kinder person.

Np but I agree. 3 is a lot. Of course you are exhausted. What did you expect?

Two is still tiring but you have more time to appreciate them.

I'm past that stage now, I have a 6 yo and a 9 yo. I miss some of those cute and funny baby/toddler moments but love the elementary kid stage. I believe that people refer to 5-10 as the golden years. These years actually have flown by faster than the early years -- I can't believe one kid will be done with elementary school and we're heading to tween/teen and MS. When did that happen?

I'm still close enough to the baby/toddler years to remember how hard they were and so I don't have nostalgia for them yet!

I have a 9 and 12 year old now...it was hard then and it’s hard now, but it’s a different kind of hard. I sleep more and I’m not covered in spit up, but the stress I feel over the things happening with my children is much higher now that they’re older...and they’re not even teens yet.

Enjoy what you can and vent about the other stuff. Make time for yourself so you don’t burn out, ask for help or hire it if you can. Don’t sweat the small stuff, try to take lots of photos and videos and write down the sweet things they say. It DOES go fast. My kids are great, I don’t miss the sleepless nights, but I do miss the simplicity of the past when they were younger. It’s hard to articulate.

Hope you have an easy and healthy birth of your 3rd!!

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t sound fun. Why keep having kids? Consider birth control after this pregnancy.

You should consider being a kinder person.

I clicked on this because I just said this to someone...the days are long but the years are short. I'm so tired.

I've got at 17 y.o. and 15 y.o. How did that happen? That was quick. But why don't they every grow up and move out? It's taking forever!

This doesn’t sound fun. Why keep having kids? Consider birth control after this pregnancy.

This is the story of my life right now - can anybody else commiserate? I am so damn tired. We are in the thick of things with a 3 year old, 4.5 year old and I am 27 weeks pregnant with number 3. My body aches and I am ready to be done with this pregnancy. Kids are in general great and pretty easy but we have been dealing with some illness with the 4.5 year old this past two weeks and it has taken a toll on no DH and myself.

I keep seeing older parents here say how easy toddler-hood is compared to the emotional aspect of raising a teenager but I can’t even fathom that far in the future. I know I will miss this age when they are older but good lord this is exhausting.