Then And Now-Paradise

Paradise Then Was...Camping trips. Long walks. Long conversation filled dinners. Wine. Laying in bed with no little ones waking you up. 2 person showers. Get up and go whenever you wanted to or never. Leisure. Beach vacations where they rake the sand each night, and organize the chairs each morning, drinks are free flowing, quiet all around. Surprise getaways. Working late and not feeling too guilty. Carefree. Reading books front to cover whenever you wanted. Spending endless amounts of time with friends and family. Holding big hands. Staying up late because we want to. Getting up early because we want to. Hobbies and endless hours to enjoy them.

Paradise Now Is......Having a little one crawl into bed and want nothing more to snuggle with you. I love you's just because you walked into a room. Baby food covered smiling faces. Mommy I did something for you and you didn't even ask. A 5 year old that listens. A baby that is content. Food in bellies. Warm clothes on backs. Fresh air to breath. Grass to play in. Dirt to get covered in. Wonders to explore. Little hands to hold. Watching them when they don't know it. Listening to them fall asleep, one babbles and the other sings. Sand in your hair. Food on your clothes. Galloping through the Zoo. Your legs being hugged. Being jumped on. Playing roll the ball. Teaching someone to clap. A smile because they finally get who you are. A smile because they get who you are and they still think you are cool.

Paradise Now is.... Something new every day. Something wonderous every day. Something fun every day. Something crazy every day. Something stressful every day. Something that takes your breath away every day. Something messy and loud every day. Something overhwhelming every day. Something exhausting every day.

Paradise Now is...Mowing the lawn. Cleaning your own house. Working that "9-5" (and for others a hell of a lot more than that!). Paying bills. Running errands. Preparing meals. Trying to remember who you have to call back and what function we must go to next? What playdate to schedule? Who is coming to visit the kids this weekend? Who are we going to visit? What needs fixing around the house and do we really want to do it or should we just pay an obnoxious amount of money for someone else to fix it? Shoveling the driveway. Do we finish the basement or never because it certainly is functional?

Paradise Now is.......Thinking I am 35, and "really this is what I do now.......?" or "REALLY this is what I do now!!!!!!!". It is that place we all journey to at some point in our lives. We all think we are ready for it. We all think it will be the best years of our lives. In many ways it is and in many ways it is not. We all think it but some of choose not to say it. Well I am saying it!

You can tell from my previous posts that I truly LOVE LOVE LOVE my kids. Wouldn't trade them in for anything (but could easily trade in the Van, the house, upgrade the lawn mower, maybe a bigger camper some day just because we can). But the kids, never in a million years. Keepin them! Keepin them close and their wives/partners/whatever will hate me some day because, yes, I will be (or already am) one of those Mom's (and some day Mom-in-laws). I am CRAZY in LOVE with my boys (all 3 of them) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

But I can say, guilt free, hands down, that there are days I would go back to Paradise Then in a heartbeat! I hear that once the kids are a little more grown up you slowly get a little Paradise Then back. You can take a walk without them and not have your neighbor call social services because you left your kids home alone. You can take longer vacations because when they are older they are easier to pawn off on family because they are less work! You can drink more wine because when you are hung over in the morning they are self-sufficient!! :) You can sleep in on Saturdays because they will be sleeping in too, or maybe they won't be home! You can take a family vacation to some place with a beach and ocean and take a hand holding walk and gross them out and they will leave you alone but yet you can still boast that you took them on a great vacation!

How did we go from Paradise Then to Paradise Now? Oh yeah. I vaguely remember graduating from high school and going off to college so I could get that damn job I thought I wanted. I went to college so I could get that house, the car(s), the yard, the camper. I wanted it all (I still do)!! I thinks it's called "Living The American Dream"?

So today I am thankful that I have Paradise Now. I find it to be a blessing. All the good. All the bad. All the stress. All of it. Wouldn't give it up for anything. Because all too soon Paradise Now ends and we go back to Paradise Then. We enjoy Paradise Then. We do all those things again and while doing them we miss Paradise Now. The viscious cycle. Either way we are screwed. We should just sit back and enjoy where we are. Enjoy each stage of our life for what it is. We should be thankful we have all that we have. We should find it a blessing! It's called Life!

How Sweet It Is!!