As I was sitting by the pool, in 80 degree weather (sorry, I just had to rub it in), I was watching all the different families interacting. I was watching Moms chase toddlers, packing babies around and such and feeling grateful that I had made it throught that stage of my daughters lives (although if you read one of my last blogs, I just gave one driving lessons….maybe diapers aren’t all that bad!!!).

Anyway, I digress. I sat there reflecting on how parenting changes so quickly and I came up with 7 stages of parenting

(1) First baby comes home- you have no idea what to do.

(2) First baby hits toddler stage – you are running around chasing them while they run (don’t they teach us not to chase dogs or they will run? What are we thinking?)

(3) Second baby comes home- definitely not as scary as the first one, but there are diapers and cheerios EVERYWHERE.

(4) Pre-school and kindergarten – man on man, this little thing is not an extension of me….. It can survive for periods of time when I am not there. Hmmm, I am going to have to think about this one.

(5) Elementary school years – do your homework, clean your room, wipe your nose, tie your shoes (dogs respond to commands much better than children). Oh yeah, do you have your chauffeur’s license yet?

(6) Teen years – who are these kids and why are they calling me Mom???? It is not real, it is a dream, wait I mean a nightmare…. WHERE IS THE DUCT TAPE???

(7) They are 18 and headed off to college – That was so wonderful, I could do it all over again ( the little voice in the back of your head is saying…Who are you kidding??? and don’t forget you still have two at home…..) AWWWWWW….