You know when you read a blog post that inspires you? This happened to me the other day.
It was this one about baby carriers written by Dave who writes the Dadventurer blog. It got me thinking about how grown up my kids are now. It’s a slightly uncomfortable truth in many respects, but Helen, who is six, and Elizabeth, who is almost three, have well and truly passed through the baby stage.
Last night I was sat down doing numeracy homework with Helen. She was doing sums well beyond my capabilities at her age, a sign both of how much she has matured and how good modern teaching methods are.
I’ve been pondering what I miss about my kids earliest days. Here is a list of five things I miss from that ever-so-special part of their lives;
- The contented look of a sleeping baby that’s just been fed. There was nothing quite like holding a sleeping baby who had a full stomach, the look on their face so peaceful (just FYI mine were largely bottle fed for medical reasons so I got to experience this more than most men).
- Long walks with a baby strapped to me in a carrier. I have Dave to thank for reminding me of this. Child No1 lived in a carrier. I took her for walks, went shopping and did housework with Helen on my front. Sadly, Toddler Adams was never that keen on being in a carrier which is a shame because I loved using one. I sold a load of baby stuff a while ago but there was one thing I couldn’t get rid of; our first BabyBjorn.
- The days when the children would eat pretty much anything. In particular this applied to Toddler Adams who had a ferocious appetite when she started on solids. Thankfully neither of my kids is too fussy and new foods are usually accepted and become a part of their diet. Even so, new foods are always treated with the utmost suspicion at first.
- The days when Daddy Magic would impress the kids. You know the kind of thing; producing a coin from behind a child’s ear or making it disappear. On one occasion I dropped a grubby-looking soft toy into my jumper while an identical, clean toy fell out the bottom. The look on Helen’s face was priceless as she couldn’t figure out how I’d done it. Having messed-up a couple of magic tricks, the kids have rumbled me and no longer think I am worthy of my stage name; The Great Ovavoo (oh come on, everyone has a stage name, right?).
- The days when the children would sleep on long car journeys. Sure, they still nap, but a lengthy sleep is very rare indeed and as they get older, arguments from the back seat are increasingly common. With the terrifying march of time, I am realistic to the fact it’ll be my wife and I in the back seat and one of the kids driving us before we know it!
Can you relate to this list? What things do you miss from your children’s earliest days?
22 thoughts on “What I miss about those baby days”
I totally relate to the BabyBjorn! I couldn’t let it go. My daughter was tiny, so I kept her in it for a year. I used to cook her brothers’ tea with her in the BabyBjorn 🙂 My sister has it now for my nephew, who is 6 months, but when they’ve finished with it, I will be having it back!
I would love to be the one asleep in the backseat! I actually don’t miss much about the baby days if I’m honest and my kids are about the same age as yours but I did once drive all the way from Hampshire to Cornwall with a five week old asleep practically the whole way which was nice!! I do miss that amazing smell of a fluffy baby head though. Thanks for linking up to #thetruthabout John 🙂
Man, I wouldn’t even know where to start with this. I just know I’m glad I, um, took care of the temptation to go back to those days
AH ha, business ahs been taken of? Say no more!
Great Ovavoo, Baroness here. How funny…this is a nostalgia post!!! I love that they are older and more engaging now and the chaos of early days isn’t good for my control freakery but sleeping babies and babies who eat when they are supposed to eat and what they are supposed to eat and snuggles and their lovely smell…those things are missed. It’s so nice to read from a dad’s perspective too. I know that’s a “duh” thing to say on a dad blog but you know. I am an idiot. 😉 X
Thank you Baroness Helicopter. You have indeed got me, that was a nostalgic post. But at least this all happened in the naughties, not the nineties! Glad you like the dad’s perspective.
Cheers for the mention John, nice to know that someone has eventually been inspired by my words 🙂 Must be so strange looking back and remembering the early days. I do that now and ours is 13 months, so it must be even stranger when they are talking, walking, going to school etc. At least we’ll always have the memories 🙂
Thanks for the inspiration Dave! Get prepared for when your little one starts school…the parenting rule book changes completely!
Oh Dave…I am still living these days and it’s kinda nice to hear I will ultimately come out the other side with a smile and such loving comments. Thanks for a coupla magic trick tips, too…will need to work on them… #TheList
I’m afraid I can’t pretend any more than my kids are babies. As your own parents said; they grow up so fast.
I can totally relate to this – apart from the Daddy Magic thing of course! I miss when Grace used to play ‘friend mums’ with me and pretend to drive in the back of the car #thelist
“mummy friends” what a great game. As for daddy magic, the skills are entirely transferable! Thanks for commenting Victoria.
Gorgeous post John, watching them grow up can be so bittersweet! I still use my sling with my 19mo, and can imagine it’ll be kept for sentimental purposes for ever more 🙂 thanks so much for sharing with #DiffLinky
So very true, John. We’ve just reached the stage where the boys (approaching 8 and 6) have now worked out that their daddy isn’t perfect and aren’t automatically impressed with everything I do. Which is okay, as it keeps me on my toes, but sometimes I do miss the days when they were entranced by even the smallest thing I did.
With Kara (3), she’s just at that age where the last vestiges of toddler cuteness are slipping away. And while she’s still cute, she’s definitely a ‘girl’ rather than a ‘baby’ now. With three kids relatively close together, we’ve had at least one child in that baby/toddler phase pretty much constantly for nearly 8 years. And while there’s still so much to look forward to, I’m going to really miss those early days! Good job we’ve recorded so many of those memories via our blogs, eh?
Oh, this is lovely. I do miss these things, although not enough to go back and do it all again 🙂 I particularly miss sleepy cuddles with a well fed baby x
Sleepy cuddles with a well fed baby….what is there not to miss!
I had a moment like this recently… I was putting my 14-month old daughter to sleep and suddenly realised I could no longer let her lie on my chest and sleep there as she did for hours as a baby! Just makes you more adamant to cherish the present as much as possible 🙂 #TheList
Sad isn’t it? Moments like that do you make you reflective though don’t they? You realise how fast they’re growing up and try to make the most of it while they’re young.
I am really struggling with the missing baby days and now that my two are definitely not babies anymore I am more broody then ever and missing these so much. Lovely post. Thanks for linking up to Share With Me blog hop. I hope you have enjoyed reading so many fab other blog posts and to see you again tomorrow for another great round of #sharewithme
Thanks Jenny, seems we have something in common (although, to be honest, I’m not remotely broody!). Will see you later for the linky.
Oh gosh, you’ve reminded me of Mike’s Magic Daddy routine – truly awful but it kept Gabby entertained for the long wait in a restaurant a time or two! Thanks for linking up to #TheList xx
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