No More Bums!

Hallelujah and Glory Be! I never thought this day would come, the end of the potty line. My last child has announced that he now wants to wipe his own bum. I observed his capabilities, and have given him the green light to take care of his own personal hygeine.

No more diapers! No more bums! But that also means no more babies in the house, and for that reason I am a bit maudlin today. Even though it wouldn't be at all practical to have any more babies, I think I will always want "just one more". Just one more time to hold a newborn, to watch them learn to smile, crawl, walk and run. Once more to fall asleep with a baby on my chest, all snuggly. That ship has sailed, but the dream lives on.

It's been weird lately to go playgrounds and not know most of the moms, who are there with warm newborns nestled inside a sling with fuzzy, feathery hair poking out. My kids are now the big ones that the new walkers stumble around after, arms outstretched, trying to reach but just missing the coattails of my speed racers.

Granted, they are still little, but they don't need me like they used to. They are full of their own ideas, and some days I wish for the ease of a one-year-old who just happily wears what you put on them and goes along with the plan with a goofy grin.

I realize, now, that babies are so easy and precious. They don't seem that way when you are living through it, and I am sure that in a few more years I'll look back on the elementary years and say they were easy compared to what lies ahead in adolescence and teenagedom.

For now, I will just be glad to be wiping one less bum. And if you have a baby, may I borrow it from time to time?