Now that we are well out of the baby years, I'm happy to be done with it. There are a lot of great things about having little ones in the house, but it's also nice to have moved into that next stage of life with our family. There are so many things we can do and freedoms we can enjoy with older kids. I never have to find a babysitter if I have an after school meeting and my husband needs to leave before I get home. If I want to run to the gym for a couple of hours and he's not home, I can leave the boys at home. If we want to go out to dinner or a movie, no need to find a babysitter.
Every now and then it's nice to be taken back to the baby stage for a few hours. My husband's cousin has a ten-month-old little boy who is so cute. My husband babysits him one or two days a week. It's nice to play with him and snuggle with him when I see him, but then send him home and get back to the more independent way of life.
Today, I got to be the one to take care of him since I'm on Spring Break. He had a cold so he was extra cuddly today. It was nice to be taken back to the stage when you feel so needed by someone. It's like taking a vacation and saying, "It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there." It was great to have some baby time, but I'm glad I don't have one anymore.
The baby stage is wonderful for a few hours at a time. It's such exhausting work to care for a little one! I loved the snuggles and the firsts, but not the sleep deprivation. That felt like torture!
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