The Mother of a Five-Year-Old

Five years into being a mom and I realize I still have a lot to learn. I often discover new insights at each stage of my children’s lives.

Take the little boy.

I’ve never been the mother of a five-year-old boy before and this new terrain often leaves me puzzled.

Like why there is so much yelling on his part for one thing?

I’m not talking about anything disrespectful, though of course that does happen. I mean that talking in general and asking questions mostly involves a sense of excitement throughout the day that can only be described as yelling.

I also can’t figure out how he can sit so still and quietly while watching a movie, but as soon as it’s time to write, read or go to bed, he can’t stop squirming, scratching or moving?

Why he can’t seem to follow the simplest directions is another? I think the man gene of letting information go in one ear and immediately drift out the other starts at five.

He’s also becoming more of a daddy’s guy. That leaves me with a bittersweet mixture of feelings.

On one hand, I need him to spend more time with the hubby so I can spend more time with little priss and so I can get things done around the house. This reliance on dad and his sense of becoming more independent (baby steps of independence here) is as it should be. He’s a boy and needs to inch away from me in order to become his own person.

On the other hand, I realize I miss his earlier dependence on me.

There are times when he’ll let me snuggle up to him on the couch.  He kisses me good night and wants to cuddle at bedtime – when he isn’t moving. He doesn't want me picking him up much anymore, but every so often I get lucky and for a few fleeting seconds, I lift him off the ground and hold him in my arms as I did so often when he was a toddler.

I know these tender moments won’t last forever, so I’m determined to make the most of them as long as he’ll let me!