Interesting

Last night Alyssa and I stayed up until the ungodly hour of 11pm watching Under the Dome. Yes, I am letting my ten year old watch this. There are scenes I tell her to not watch and I mute the tv while she looks away but come on, she’d ten. She’s a ten year old who asks questions about things she doesn’t understand.

I love that about her.

Okay, I admit it, there are a lot of things I love about this girl.

Anyway, a baby was born on the show and near the end of the episode the new mom was shown in bed, snuggling her newborn, gazing lovingly into the baby’s eyes.

I announced, “Babies are boring.”

Alyssa laughed at me, sounding a little insulted.

I said, “It’s true. Babies are really boring. But ten year olds? They’re awesome. You can have actual conversations with ten year olds. Ten year olds can get themselves something to eat if they’re hungry. They can share their opinions, thoughts and concerns with you in a comprehensive way.”

Alyssa shrugged at me and went to the fridge. I had, after all, mentioned that she was able to feed herself when she’s hungry.

I think back to those early days of motherhood, those days when the hours seemed to drag because babies are so, so boring. Sure, they’re cute but they lay there and they blink and they eat and they poop and then they need to sleep again.

Unless they’re Olivia, then we replace the blinking part with screaming and well, you’ve got boring and LOUD.

My girls are so much more interesting and fun now than they were during those early days of infancy.

Though I do admit that once upon a time I worried greatly about what I’d do with them when they gave up naps. But guess what? By the time that happened, they were already more interesting and fun than they’d been when they needed eleven (or three, who’s counting?) naps a day.

All this is not to say that there are not days when I’m counting down the hours and minutes to bedtime but those days are further and fewer between than they were ten and six years ago.

I know how lucky I am to get to enjoy the company of these smart, funny girls. I want to cherish these moments even as I anticipate it just continuing to get better and better.