Beautiful Blur

I finally got everything loaded back into the car-  it was 95 degrees, crazy humid, and I was drenched in sweat and EXHAUSTED! Was this all worth it?!?

For a simple morning play date out I had spent a ridiculous amount of time and energy. Between getting up early to prep and pack the snacks (so the toddlers wouldn’t see them ahead of time and throw a fit!), to loading the cooler, diaper bag, double stroller, and those crazy toddlers into the car, driving 45 mins- unloading previously mentioned items, applying sunscreen and bug spray, getting them strapped into the stroller against their wills– and this was all to get TO the play date location!

Over the next hour and a half my sweet friend and I attempted snippets of actual adult conversation in-between passing out snacks, admiring the “beautiful pink flowers” a million times- and explaining (without success) that we couldn’t pick all of them, temporarily getting lost on the trail where a very nice group of kind strangers helped us carry our strollers of children over a giant stair bridge we didn’t realize was there, and countless other “toddler mom” moments.

When the time to load up and go home (not to miss nap time, of course) came- my friend and I were spent! I don’t know about her, but once everything was in the car and it was time to drive I couldn’t help but wonder if the effort matched the memories? Do these little humans even care what we did to take them on a new adventure? The answer is most likely no- right now they don’t. They had a good time (mostly), but to them it was another fun day with mommy and the focus immediately turned to what they wanted to do when we got home. (Which if you wondered– didn’t include that nap time thing I mentioned)

Once I finally got them to lay down I took a minute to look back at the pictures from our morning. My heart swelled- what was exhausting only hours ago- was already a sweet memory. It was a beautiful blur of a morning. And isn’t that the thing about this stage we’re in?

It rarely FEELS beautiful in the middle of it- the prep work it takes, the meltdowns, the diaper changes.. you’re running in a million directions and trying not to lose your mind. But then you get it- the memory- it comes almost as soon as the struggle dies down and you know, without a doubt, you’d do it all again.

Enjoy your beautiful blurs friends, before we know it this stage will pass.