:: No More Hokey Pokey

Look. That’s me when I had small peeps in tow. (I’ve included some bonus lady. Take it or leave it. That’s the way it is. Leave your money on the fridge.)

You know, my peeps are not small anymore. Nope. Sigh. They are all into teenage years or beyond. Yep.  Do you know something else? It’s really different being the parent of NOT LITTLE kids.

For one, you seem to be considered as ‘out of the trenches’ and not really as hardcore (no poo! no nudie runs!) in the parent department.
Also, your kids are not teensy and loud and demanding anymore, so you’re a less visible parent. You’re more of a person.
Plus, people don’t really notice your kids as much. They blend in because they’re not wearing tiny sailor suits, shoes that squeak when they walk or the like.
Interestingly, people are less likely to value your advice about kids, because your parenting of small kids was a while ago. You’ve sort of gone over your use-by date.  It’s a bit like you parented back when they put babies to sleep with whiskey.
Also,  if you blog, you are not considered to be a Mum blogger if your kids wipe their own faces after lunch.  Rather you are a regular old blogger. You just happen to  have some children or some-such.

Apart from all that, some stuff changes:
You don’t get a hall pass to being silly as often. (Although I do try.)
You get less hugs.
There’s less emphasis on play in the family.
A Matchbox car is no longer an ace treat.
No one wants to sing the hokey pokey anymore.

But there are tons of benefits to having bigger kids, too:
They make you cups of coffee
They tell you when you need a rest or are acting a bit hangry
They don’t tip their dinner on the floor, lock-stock-and-barrel
They tell you when there’s parsley in your teeth
They watch the same shows you love. Read the same books, even.
You can use fruity swear words around them.
They have really interesting opinions and challenge your parent-y dictatorship.

And later still:
They might buy you fancy boxes of chocolates that you can’t eat due to your false teeth.
AND they might make your family explode again, into some kind of aunty/cousiny/grandparenty family fricassee.
Nice.

I’m not saying it’s all bad. I’m just saying it’s really different. I’m not having a hard time. I’m just noticing and moving through the changes.

Do you have big kids or little kids?
Will you have kids one day?
Does any of this make sense to you?

x Pip