Enjoying the sweet spot of parenting

It seems like parents are always waiting for the next stage of family life. You have an infant and you’re anxiously hoping for them to sleep through the night. You have a toddler and are eagerly awaiting the time to ditch diapers. You can’t wait for your preschooler to be trusted with crayons and get socks and shoes on all by himself. And so on.

There are so many of those milestones crammed into the first few years of life. It seems like you trudge up a hill just to fall down the other side and hike up the next challenge.

We recently entered what I would call the sweet spot of parenting. The kids are independent enough to take care of most of their basic needs. They can play independently and that gives my husband and I a bit of freedom to finish those last emails at the end of the day or actually get a shower without having to strap a toddler down to keep them out of mischief.

My biggest challenge this time last year was trying to make dinner. My daughters, in third grade and kindergarten at the time, were able to play in the driveway or playroom with little supervision. Their three-year-old little brother of course wanted to join them, however, he still needed adult supervision outside. We don’t have a typical backyard that the kids can play in so we usually enjoy the driveway and front yard. We have a lot of speeding cars that fly down the hill in front of our driveway.

This third child of mine started walking when he was 10 months old and has drawn on three different couches (we still have no idea when that happened). He spilled coffee on the carpet twice before the age of one. His favorite activity when he could walk was to empty out all of the Tupperware and towels in the kitchen. So, playing outside without an adult wasn’t an option.

I would either delay dinner and play outside with the kids or have to cook while keeping my three-year-old occupied or convince him to watch some T.V. I would much rather prefer for the outside playtime. But we all know what happens too when toddlers get hangry.

This spring, I’ve been able to enjoy all three kids playing outside in the sunshine while I can get dinner started before 6:30 p.m. They can all dress themselves for bedtime and for school, put clothes in the laundry, clean their plates and put them in the dishwasher, and feed the dog. The girls can read to themselves before bed and my oldest can even read to her little brother and help put him to bed if one of us isn’t home at bedtime. Even getting in and out of the car without climbing over everybody to buckle them in has saved time!

I don’t want to rush through our short time together, especially not this particular smooth rhythm of life. Sooner than I’d like, we’ll be dealing with middle school life and worrying about them driving. So I’m soaking in this sweet phase however long it lasts.

Tara Lynn is a former WRAL reporter and anchor. She lends her 15-plus years in journalism to tell visual stories through love-filled photography for families of all kinds. The mother of three little humans and one senior rescue dog believes in celebrating magic in the little things, the big loves, and the imperfect moments that make the most remarkable memories. Her vision is to help families celebrate and share their love through photography and curated album artwork that become timeless keepsakes connecting multiple generations...because moments often pass in the blink of an eye, and the photographs we take connect us to our memories and our great loves, forever.

You can find Tara Lynn on Instagram at @TaraLynn_andCo and learn more about her photography at TaraLynnAndCo.com.