This is Being a Mom of Young Kids

Being a mom to young kids is this weird time in your life where you’re kind of lonely but you’re never alone, where you shower far less than you’d ever care to admit (thank you dry shampoo), and you’d do some pretty unmentionable things for a few uninterrupted hours of sleep. 

Being a mom to young kids is a time in your life where words like “potty” and phrases like “what do you say?” spill out of your mouth hundreds of times a day. Where you’re more likely to have Moana stuck in your head than anything off the top 100 charts (Lil’ Pump who?!?). It’s a time that when you finally do get to watch something other than Disney Jr, it’s in four-minute segments because you’re in the middle of a bedtime battle with a toddler who needs a 14th drink, another book to read, and has the key to world peace. 

Being a mom to young kids is having a wardrobe consisting of leggings and t-shirts. It’s hearing “Where are we going, Momma?” every time you put on a pair of jeans which, by the way, maybe I should put on a little more often (getting a little snug). My leggings are too forgiving of my sneaky stale Halloween leftovers and my love affair with ice cream. 

Being a mom to young kids is a purse that has very few of my things in it. Diapers, wipes, snacks, a spare pacifier and oh yes, a wallet! Where opening your car door could and very likely will equate to an avalanche of shoes, toys, blankets, socks, and trash; you name it it’s in my car.

Being a mom to young kids is a time where your pile of laundry is taller than your 2-year-old, and that’s the clean pile. Where seeing your living room sans the sprinkling of toys feels like a Bigfoot sighting. A time where the dishwasher is always full and those sink dishes can just wait their turn.

Being a mom to young kids is finally seeing a friend but spending the whole time cutting up food, filling sippy cups, breaking up brawls, and wiping butts. Where a trip to the grocery store feels like a marathon (thank you curb side pickup!). A time where everywhere you go you feels a little like a circus, and when I say “a little like” I really mean you just got off the phone with the ring master and he wants the monkeys back ASAP.

Being a mom to young kids is a time in life where you’re exhausted and touched out, where your patience is tested daily (hourly? By the minute?!) where anything you do, you do one-handed with a baby on your hip, or with one whining at your feet. A time where your whole world revolves around these tiny human who OWN YOU.

Being a mom to young kids is the “you’ll miss this time”. The only time in your life where you are literally their entire world. Where they fit completely in your lap and love you more than anything else. It’s a time where your kisses solve it all and your hugs are actually requested. Your jokes are hilarious, your singing voice rivals Beyoncé (hail queen Bey), your dance moves are legendary and you’re cool, SO cool. A time where your bed is the best place, your body feels like home to them and just by being with them you provide all the comfort these little people will ever need.

Being a mom to young kids is a time in your life where you want to remember every detail, every first, every smile, every roll, every giggle, every sweet baby smell, and every sleepy face. A time when you doubt your (almost) every move. It is a time when you spend the hours before bedtime counting down but then you lay in your bed going through every picture you have of them on your phone. It is a time when being away from them for the work day or even just the rare lone Target trip feels simultaneously like a dream vacation and torture to your momma heart that misses them already (seriously?!).

It’s a time of love, SO much love, so much you could cry and your heart aches because it could literally burst at any moment.

I’m told being a mom to young kids is the time of your life, that these are the very best days of my life, that the days feel long but the years are so short. I’m told that I’ll miss these days. I can’t say for sure because I’m still here in the thick of it, surviving the trenches, spending my days surrounded by these tiny humans I made . . . but I have a feeling it’s true.

You may also like:

The Secret No One Told Me About the Toddler Years is How Much I Could Absolutely Love Them

To the Mom in the Trenches: Your Time is Coming

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Articles by Dakota Finley

Dakota Finley

Dakota Finley is a 28-year-old former case manager recently turned stay-at-home mom, from down a dirt road in Colorado. She’s a momma to two baby girls and a fire wife to her high school sweetheart. She lives for summers at the lake, sour beers, her morning coffee and cheetah print. She writes from the trenches, on her phone with a baby asleep in the crook of her arm, because she loves it.