About a year ago, I started majorly freaking out about my kids getting older and no longer having babies. I had to stop following people who were constantly posting pictures of newborns, because I was JEAL-OUS. I wondered what the hell I was going to do with myself when Mazzy and Harlow grew up and left the house. And then I relaxed, reassured myself that I had a bunch more years as a mom with two kids at home and began to revel in the big kid years.
Ummm…the big kid years are AMAZING. This is now my purpose online. Making new parents realize all the wonderful things ahead of them.
Here are 49 big kid milestones that are fucking amazing and will make you want a 6yo or a 9yo or a 17yo PRONTO:
1) When you can ask why they are crying and they can actually tell you
2) When they can blow their own nose
3) When they can make it to the toilet, a bowl, a bag or a garbage can before the vomit
4) When they can climb into their own carseat
5) When they can buckle their own seat belt
6) When they can open and close the car door themselves
7) When they can get their stuff and walk themselves from the car to the house on their own
8) When they use their own bathroom stall so you can pee in public restrooms at the same time
9) When they can wipe their own butt
10) When they can wipe their own butt and you trust them to do it effectively without checking
11) When you can send your kid to the bathroom in a restaurant alone
12) When you are not even aware that they’ve used the bathroom
13) When you can ask them to bring YOU toilet paper
14) When you can leave your house with a normal purse (no diapers, no extra clothes, no wipes)
15) When they can take their own shower
16) When they are old enough to put away their own laundry
17) When they can load and unload a dishwasher
18) When they offer to help and it’s actual help
19) When they can eat a slice of pizza without needing to cut it up
20) When they can put the damn straw in the juicebox
21) When they can make their own motherfucking sandwich
22) When they can use the toaster
23) When they can pick out their clothes and dress themselves
24) When they can get their own coats
25) When they can put on their own shoes
26) When they can hang up their backpacks and put their shoes away in the designated bins
27) When they can pump their own legs on a swing so you don’t have to stand there and push them
28) When they can play outside safely while you make dinner
29) When they put their jammies on and brush their teeth while sit on the couch
30) When you can read and experience a book series together
31) When they wake up and can entertain themselves or turn on the TV so you can sleep longer
32) When they can navigate Netflix alone
33) When they can navigate away from Netflix because they figured out that the show they want to watch is actually on Amazon Prime
34) When you can binge watch an adult series together
35) When you can share a private joke
36) When they tell jokes that are actually funny
37) When they can pack themselves for trips
38) When they can entertain themselves on a plane
39) When you’re at the beach or the pool and you can read a book and relax without having to scan and count heads every second
40) When they hit 48 inches tall and can go on all the big rides and water slides
41) When vacations actually start to feel like vacations
42) When you can go on a family bike ride
43) When you can scream “are you ok?” from another room and they can scream back, “yeah!”
44) When you can to go to a BBQ and actually converse with the other adults while they kids all play together
45) When you can play a board or card game together
46) When you can go out for a date night without hiring a sitter
47) When they start to make thoughtful observations about the world around them and you realize there is more going on up there than video games, cheese pizza and legos
48) When your kid becomes your designated driver
And one direct quote from a follower…
49) When you can bring your kid to Disney, hand them a gift card for food and say, “Meet me at the exit when the park closes.”
What amazing big kid milestones did I miss?
Follow my me and my family on @mommyshorts!
My daughter is still very young (almost 2) but the one I’m MOST excited for right now would be the one where they can tell you why they are crying!
When they actually stay in bed at night.
I feel this so hard right now! My girls are 10 and 8, are helping more without complaining and super fun to be around! I love being able to go somewhere spontaneously without a ton of prep or gear. There are times, though, that they still want to be in the bathroom with me, or snuggle with me at night because they don’t feel well and I am completely fine with that!
When they can cut their own nails!!
Yes!
When they can pack their own school lunches.
This summer, #40 has been my favorite. Watching my 7 year-old be brave and fall in love with roller coasters and STEEP water slides, as much as I love them, has been a highlight of parenting for me. Oh, and sleepwaway camp!!