It looks like everybody kicked a goal

The Castle

Life is a bit of a blur at the moment. I'm struggling with the dropping kids at school and preschool and then picking them up again. In theory it sounds like an easy, quick and simple thing to do, but by 10am I've got kids in and out of car seats six times, then 2.30pm rolls around and we do it all again. I feel like D and I live in the car carting the girls around to and fro. It's all a lot busier than I thought it would be. On top of that there's swimming lessons, preschool meetings, school social events, kids parties, etc, etc. Being sleep deprived and a bit frazzed, I don't have the time I thought I would with the kids out of the house. Poor D is the baby on the run who just has to nap and eat wherever and whenever.

In the rush of the mundane it's also easy to forget that these are little people doing amazing things for the first time. Instead you think of them as packages that need to be distributed.

Yesterday, I tried to take some time with each of them, just a couple of minutes to take note of what they've grown into.

Lil-lil is so grown-up. She reckons she's so good at reading that she can do it with her eyes closed. She's got a complicated social life with friends and bestest best friends that change on a daily basis. She's hanging out to win Student of the Week at assembly. She's learning big lessons, like looking after her school hat (already lost) and her lunch box and that the playground is a big, rough place.

With Goosey she punches so far above her three years that it's easy to forget she's learning so much and growing too. How to bond and find her own place in the world and with her friends. She's finding a place where she's not Lil's crazy little sister. That "birds keep eggs under their bums or else the eggs will shiver". She can now draw the happiest little people and love hearts. She only plays with the boys.

D is a far cry from the scrawny little boy pulled out too early. His thighs are impressively chubby. He's reaching for things and grabbing, trying to move and desperate to roll around. He can even pull his sister's hair, the first step in his revenge plan, no doubt.

The best part of being a parent is watching them kick their goals, no matter how small they are. I just need to remind myself to look occasionally and not get lost in the day-to-day.