No More Babies--The Good and the Bad

It dawned on me this weekend, as I was getting ready for Peach's birthday party, that I have no more babies. I mean, yes, all three of the Goombas still ACT like babies a lot of the time, but none of them are still actual babies. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it is so nice to be almost done with diapers. On the other hand, I'm a little choked up over not having any more tiny little bundles of sleepy sweetness. Of course, when I mentioned this to Bowser, he looked at me as if I just told him I wanted to turn our kitchen into a meth lab. He has been over the baby phase for quite sometime, and while I agree about 99% of the time, there is still that little twinge of baby fever that sets in every now and then.

But, as with all phases of life, there are good and bad things about leaving the baby years behind. Here are some of the positive and negatives.

Positive--No more formula and bottles! Oh, Lordy, how I hated bottles! Yes, I was one of those "terrible" mothers that did not breastfeed. (No Judging Zone!) Since I was of the formula school of thought, that meant hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars a year on the liquid gold supplement. Bowser's wallet is very happy to be over that stage. Also, since my babies were all ravenous little piggies, we went through a lot of bottles every day. That meant I had to hand-wash them most of the time so that there would always be some clean. Let's just say, I have had enough bottle washing to last a lifetime. Good-bye and good riddance, Avent!

Negative--No more sweet slurping sounds, content sighs and sweet milky baby breath. Now it is gulping and belching, crying that the food Mommy cooked is gross, and disgusting pizza breath. It's just not as cute.

Positive--Children sleeping through the night!!! We still, of course, have lots of waking up for nightmares, or sick kiddos, but in general, we are all sleeping. What a relief! I thought I would be up 10 times a night for the rest of my life! I am finally starting to snap out of the sleep deprived stupor I have been in since Mario's arrival 7 1/2 years ago.

Negative--No more precious little baby burritos to snuggle with in the dark, quiet of the night. Because really, I don't think there could possibly be anything more blissful in the world than a sleeping baby's warm breath on your neck as you rock and doze together.

Positive--No more having to lug around 400 pounds of baby gear just to go to Grandma's house or the grocery store. Now that Luigi is potty trained, I only have to carry around a couple of diapers for Peach and a sippy cup for each of them. I am finally out of the diaper bag and into a regular old purse again! Yippee!

Negative--Now we have moved on to the gear with all the teeny-tiny pieces and a thousand moving parts. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have almost broken my neck and cursed the "Gods of Toyland" from stepping on a Lego or a Matchbox car. Also, I used to be able to buy "generic" gear. Now they want specifics. If it isn't Mario, Mario doesn't want it. If it isn't Thomas, Luigi doesn't want it. If it isn't princess or Hello Kitty, Peach doesn't want it. Sometimes I long for the days of Crazy Cow the rattle.

Positive--Mommy is getting some free time back now that (almost) everyone is going to school. And I feel better about asking for baby-sitting trade-offs so that I can do some things alone. After having little humans attached to my body practically every second for the last 7 1/2 years, some freedom is kind of nice.

Negative--I'm not there for every minute little detail of their lives. Sometimes I have to hear an amazing accomplishment from a teacher. Which is a hard privilege to give up after being the one who was always there for so long.

Positive--The Goombas are each becoming their own person with their own personalities and quirks. I love to see the people they are becoming and it is so much fun to be able to interact with them through conversations and games. I also totally love that all three of them have a bonding moment every night at dinner when they sing "Yoshi Loves to Eat Some Poo." (To the tune of London Bridge.)

Negative--This also means that I am not the Most Important Person in their lives anymore. Which is a bummer. It is so nice when those sweet little people look at you like you are the most awesome being ever. Then they grow up and tell you you are the Meanest Mom Ever. But, if they are anything like my mother and me, eventually, in about 20 years, they will realize I am not so bad after all.

Positive--The Goombas are all able to communicate using words at this point. No more trying to figure out if this cry means hungry, poopy, or bored. It really is a wonderful thing.

Negative--They. NEVER. Stop. Talking. EVER! Bowser and I hardly talk anymore in the evenings because the Goombas talk SO VERY much all day long. We consider the silence totally golden. But, I know I should enjoy it now, because soon, they won't want to say a word to us and I will be begging for them to talk to me. And then we will be in a whole other stage.

There was a time when I never thought those long baby days would end. The days of diapers, spit up, crying, bottles... But, now that I look back, they were gone before I knew it. Will I miss those days? Yes. Am I excited about moving on to a new stage in my children's lives? Heck, yes! One good thing is that almost all of my friends are currently expecting new little ones. This means that when the "fever" hits, I can just head over to their houses, snuggle a baby, and then come home to my walking, talking, growing Goombas. And that sounds perfect to me.

Cheers!
~Daisy