Where has the week gone?

Goodness gracious....has it really been over a week since I posted anything? How is that even possible? Someone must be playing a cruel joke on me, and instead of just turning my clock forward trying to be funny, they've turned my entire calendar forward. I have this fear that one day I'm going to go to sleep a tired 30 year old mom, and be awaken by a strapping young lad with a duffel bag full of laundry slung over his shoulder. I'll gasp at this intruder, look for something to use as a weapon, then hear him say, "Hey, Mom, I'm home for the weekend."

Tate?? What?? Is this a dream?? I'll run into the room where his crib used to be and will find... exercise equipment!? I'll look down at the floor searching for all the toys I used to complain being strewn about that would cause me to silently curse when I stubbed my toe on one and it promptly started to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at a deafening level in the middle of the night and will find.....a clean carpet.

I have lost count of the number of people who have urgently advised us to "enjoy them while they're young....it will pass by so quickly" since we've had kids. (Incidentally, I have actually become one of those people and tell this to all new parents I encounter). And I really do try and take this to heart. When I've spent an extra slow day at home with extra restless kids and am tempted to quickly throw them into bed so I can, for the first time that day, put my feet up and relax, I'll think, "There will be one day when Drue won't ask for a bedtime story, and will be thoroughly embarrassed as I belt out all the verses to The Wheels on the Bus instead of giggling as I exaggerate the motions."

We got a new video camera for Christmas and I have this urgency to video every little thing they do...not just birthday parties and Christmas plays, but common everyday things, so I can watch them over and over and remember what it was like when they were small. I want to video me putting Drue to bed and our little routine she has come to love and expect. I want to video Tate's eyes getting wide and arms flapping when someone cranks his Jack in the Box. I want to discreetly video them taking their bath together, because there's only so long #1-They will all fit in one bathtub together and #2-It will be socially acceptable for them to have a "mixed" bath with one another. And I want to video Reese all dressed up in her little tutu dancing around the living room.

Of course, I realize that's why parents get video cameras in the first place, to document their kids' lives, but I am such a procrastinator when it comes to stuff like that. A friend of mine and I were talking about this the other day. We know we'll have all the time in the world to have a clean house once the kids are grown and moved away and we need to make a conscious effort to spend as much time with them as we can now. But on the flip side of that, the laundry isn't going to drag itself down the stairs, wash itself, then fold itself and put it away...(I know that comes as a bit of a surprise to you dear...just kidding...I had to throw one playful barb at you this go round). So there are inevitably going to be times when I have to say, "I'll read that book to you later," or "No, I can't have a tea party right this second, sweetie."

These are the comments that are going to come back and haunt me one day, I'm sure of it. Am I the only Mom out there who loses sleep over this? How in the world do you balance out getting the dishes done yet not missing out on one dress up party?

Hmmmm....strange. I meant for this post to be about some humorous things my husband has said lately, and I have no idea how it turned into this. But I think I'll post it anyway, the end product of some of my "raw" thought processes, and will go kiss my babies all snug in their beds, before they start trying to sneak out past curfew....