Sunday 14 September 2008

Another milestone.

Youngest child has had a birthday weekend - a sleepover on Friday night and relatives today, including grandparents and The World's Best and Cutest Nephews, wearing ties for the first time ever (see below). Youngest child got to choose the main course and went for haggis, neeps and tatties, a meal I still forget that it is legal to eat on other days of the year than the 25th of January. Firstborn made the birthday cake - yes it looks like two cakes but together, they're the number eight. One big step forward in the Droid family's life will now be that, without any under-eights among us, the kids can all go into the local swimming pool unaccompanied by parents. Yippee! Or, the parents can go in too but can now swim about freely instead of hanging about, freezing cold, watching them all, yet knowing that they're all better swimmers than either of us! People talk about your child's firsts (first tooth, first step, etc) but I think I notice their "lasts" more, as we stop needing certain things in the house, like pram/cot/potty/nappies/etc. or finish with playgroup and nursery, or whatever. And sometimes you don't realise the "last" has happened when something stops gradually. Our kids used to come through to our room in the middle of the night (one friend, a mother of five, told me it wasn't our bad parenting but rather that they were so well bonded with us, which may or may not be true but what a lovely friend!) None of them stopped suddenly. It kind of phased out, becoming more sporadic gradually. So it was a while before we realised that it was finally a thing of the past. Of course it happened very shortly after we had finally, after years (literally) of my waking up with my head on the bedside table, invested in a king size bed. I'm happy that my kids are coming on, and don't pine for the early years, but LOVE getting to view it all again from a distance with these little gentlemen, whose mum (my hero) makes rearing twins look incredibly easy.

4 comments:

Caroline said...

They are beautiful boys. I agree with you about the "lasts" - the training never leaves you though, my children are in their twenties but if one of them whispers "Mum" outside my bedroom door I am catapulted from a deep sleep to a standing position and am saying "What's the matter?" before the syllable has finished.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

Congrats on seeing your family reach new milestones. The youngest and the twins are all cute.

Holy Famoley said...

Looks like a lovely time was had by all!

I always think with children that we don't just have 2 (in my case, 4 in yours) but we have many, many children. From the moment you put away the first-size, barely worn clothes to the day you drop them off at university halls of residence (and doubtless beyond), we are experiencing lasts with them. And with each last, there is a tiny sense of being bereft.

McNoddy said...

Nest year the Droids should try this.