Smudges on the Fridge

Exactly two feet up from the floor, our kitchen has a solid band of hand- and fingerprints running across every surface. As soon as Ivy could cruise confidently, she wanted to do it everywhere. If I was in the kitchen getting a snack, she was there (insisting I share my food).

Friends, other parents, and social media will tell you to enjoy every minute of parenting and raising your kids. What they gloss over is there are plenty of things about raising kids that are no walk in the park. Teething multiple molars? Not fun for anyone involved. Struggling the feed your screaming baby in the first few weeks? Awful. But getting cuddles and giving comfort during a fever? That special look of recognition and excitement when you come back in from another room? Those are the moments I want to savor and remember forever.

Smudges on the fridge make me feel anxious if I’m candid. They’re a reminder of things I need to do but don’t. However, I will use them as a prompt to delight in the fact that my daughter is growing and evolving, because childhood goes by too quickly, and I can barely keep up with her developments, let alone her beelining towards the cat.

What reminders do you have that your child is growing up too fast?