<p>I dont miss trying to find the latest toy/game fad. In my house, S2 was the one who really got into something…it varied from cars to Power Rangers to Pokemon cards. He was a sweet child who was always appreciative of what he got, but it was still a PITA to find some of them.</p>
<p>I have nothing here. My oldest is in college and my youngest just turned 2 yrs old. SHe is in diapers, but likes to rip them off. But she is scared of the potty. BUT…and get this…she is trying to potty train her dolls!!! She is sooo cute!!!</p>
<p>I love everything about this age. Nothing for me to miss now. I worry, since I doubt I will have any more children, how much I will miss this age when it is gone.</p>
<p>I don’t miss their wetting the bed. And it went on for YEARS. Two of them were THIRTEEN when it ended. Yes, I took them to a specialist, who ran tests and found nothing wrong. He said that some kids just take a long time to mature, and they don’t stay dry until the approach puberty. It was horrible. </p>
<p>I worked three days a week when my kids were little. I took some flack from clients (contractors) for not being available the other two days a week. Then I felt guilty when I was at work and had to leave my kids at daycare. Later, my sons told me the babysitter was not a very nice person. :(</p>
<p>Ok…there is one thing I will not miss. One of my toddlers keeps making accidents everywhere. We actually put diapers back on him because it seems like it will not stop.</p>
<p>Sometimes having toddlers clean up their own “accidents” helps stop them. Don’t ask me how I know this.</p>
<p>I do not miss Bar Mitzvas and Bat Mitzvas.</p>
<p>My non-Jewish sons were both invited to about thirty Bar/Bat Mitzvas. </p>
<p>My non-Jewish daughter was not part of the popular crowd in middle school and spent all of seventh and part of eighth grade miserably listening to blow by blow recounts of the fabulous parties she hadn’t been invited to. This being a wealthy suburb, the parties are over the top.</p>
<p>I don’t miss the school field trips to the pumpkin patch. Hours of elementary school boys roaming for the perfect, almost always huge, pumpkin, usually on a muddy, rainy day, which then meant trip to car detailer…</p>
<p>Picking the perfect, small pumpkin from the grocery store suits me just fine!</p>
<p>week nights…rushing home from work to pick up my three kids from different aftercare programs at three different schools, then rushing home to prepare dinner, clean up from dinner, make lunches, supervise baths, make sure homework was completed, etc…but all those endless days also were the stuff of life. I was supposed to say what I didn’t miss, but oh well…as Billy Joel sang…I’ve loved these days…</p>
<p>I do not miss the working mom guilt.</p>
<p>I do not miss Teenage Girl Drama.</p>
<p>I do not miss bad animated movies - really, “The Pebble and the Penguin”?</p>
<p>I really don’t miss having to arrange our family vacations around the school calendar and sports teams.</p>
<p>MaineLonghorn – the babysitter years – those were the worst. Seeing your child screaming as you left them with a sitter. Coming home to the aftermath of the “fun” babysitter who decided to use every sheet and towel to make a fort. Coming home to another babysitter who thought the kids were allowed to shoot each other with water pistols inside the house. Then having to pay these people.</p>
<p>The working mom guilt too – wishing you could split yourself in two so you could earn the paycheck and rock the sick child. It was more like working mom angst. Missing the school activities and hearing when you got home “all the other mommies were there.”</p>
<p>No grandkids in sight, but I do think I’ll enjoy them. D said they’re going to be vegan. I told her to send 'em over to me for Doritos and beef jerky.</p>
<p>Colic! I’m convinced the soundtrack in Hell is a colicky baby. Do not miss those days even one little bit.</p>
<p>I had a toddler with a snotty nose visiting last weekend. Guess how I feel today? A perfect reminder of how much I don’t miss the passed-on colds.</p>
<p>I also don’t miss the “I know what I want but I can’t communicate well so I’ll just scream” stage. And I’ve gotten used to not having to be alert just because my kids are up at the crack of dawn.</p>
<p>Despite the above whining, he was delightful and made me remember many of the joys of kids that age too. There’s nothing like an unsolicited hug from a little kid.</p>
<p>Sleep walking. I would find my D walking through the house turning on the lights or trying to walk out of the door. Thought we had ghosts in the house for a while until she stopped around 8 or so.</p>
<p>I remember rocking a six-week old S1 at 4:00 AM, weeping that this was what my life had become . . .</p>
<p>I don’t miss Teething…and all the crying that went with it.</p>
<p>I don’t miss:
ear infections
car seats
public tantrums
Unlike so many other children who could be soothed to sleep riding in the car, my DD HATED riding in the car. Arched her back to resist being buckled in. Screamed throughout many, many rides whether short or long. We dreaded taking her anywhere. Eventually she became a pleasant child, but it took about 5 years.</p>
<p>I don’t miss the mean kids and their parents, though they did serve as a handy apples/trees example. I’m not sure I would send my kids to elementary school if I had a do-over. I don’t miss coaches with power trips. I don’t miss not being able to find the white shirt needed for concerts that they haven’t worn since the last concert.
I miss a lot of everything else though. Trudging through a muddy pumpkin patch with a preschooler sounds like heaven. I very much look forward to grandchildren though I think it’s a long way off.</p>
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</p>
<p>Oh. My. God.</p>
<p>I had forgotten about that movie. I’ll never get those two hours back.</p>
<p>We live a distance from all family so we had ZERO help. No one to spontaneously drop them in on for any reason, such as an emergency room trip, etc. It was incredibly stressful. I used to just marvel at folks who had local grandparents and were able to have respite on a regular basis. I had one short period of time where neighbors on either side became friends and we helped each other out when we could. Other than the memory of always being “on”, I wouldn’t change a thing. We have had a really good life and good times and we are close.</p>