Toddlers Are Exhausting—And Worth it

The Sweetest Mother's Day Gift!

A few months ago, I remember complaining about you. A few weeks ago, I remember complaining about you. I’m so sorry.

It wasn’t your fault. I mean, you’re not even two years old. I was just so tired, you know?

I love being your mom. I love it with a love that I can’t comprehend or really even explain. Sometimes, I look at you and you look back at me with this toothy grin that, when paired with your cheeky gaze through wispy baby bangs, absolutely stops me in my tracks. You’re a cutie and you have my whole heart and you know it.

But also, baby girl, it’s been so tiring. Sometimes, being your mama all day long leaves me feeling utterly depleted and exhausted.

But I’m so sorry I complained about you. I was so tired of you always wanting to be on my hip and your constant whining that didn’t seem to relent. At the time it felt like I just couldn’t get a break from it. I know there was so much going on in our life but I didn’t extend the grace to you that I could have. If I’m honest, baby girl, I didn’t extend that grace to myself, either. Or your daddy. Or your big sister.

I’m so sorry. For wishing you would grow up a little quicker. Need me a little less. Not want to be picked up all the time. Be more advanced than your current stage.

I looked over at you the other day and suddenly realized—this little girl is growing up before my eyes. Gosh, it caught me off guard.

Just last week, or so it seems, you couldn’t verbalize anything. Today, I heard you repeat back to me clearly what I was saying. Your baby babbles are changing into real words and my mama heart can’t keep up. I’ve been lamenting that your feet are too small to fit any of the “proper” shoes at the store, but now your growing toes are sitting comfortably within them. Same with your clothes.

That head of wispy ginger hair that wasn’t quite long enough to gather into a ponytail is now long enough to do so. I see you running and jumping and climbing and keeping up with all the big kids. You look so much older now with a mouthful of teeth.

The milestones I was begging for, complaining for even, just a few short weeks ago, are already here. I’m so happy but so sad at the same time. This job of being a mom—it wreaks havoc on my poor heart. It’s a roller-coaster of emotions. One moment I’m desperately wishing you would grow up, just a little, and the next I’m lamenting the fact that it’s happened and I wish we could go back.

I’m so sorry, baby girl, that I’ve been wishing away the present when the future is coming all too quickly.

I don’t want to spend my todays longing for tomorrow. Because as I sit here and watch you grow before my eyes, baby girl, my heart is already breaking for the day when you will walk on out of here. As that day approaches, I know I’ll be begging for time to slow down, just a little. Today, as I watch you keep up with your older sister, sit quietly at the dinner table, play independently and color in with big kid pens, I feel my mama heart coming undone. The littleness in our home is quickly disappearing and I don’t quite know if I’m ready to let it go.

Baby girl, I’m sorry for complaining. I know I’ll most likely do it again, as soon as the hard creeps upon us again, but I want you to know that you are absolutely worth it. The good, the hard, the challenges, the havoc that you are wreaking on my mama heart—you are so absolutely worth it. In this stage, at this age, in this moment—and every stage, age and moment to come.

You may also like:

Two-Year-Olds Aren’t Terrible, They’re Just Trying to Understand Life

So God Made a Toddler

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

So God Made a Grandmother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Order Now!

Sina Steele

Sina is a wife, mom and creative from New Zealand. Along with raising her daughters, she enjoys working from home in social media, design and writing. She serves alongside her husband at a Christian missions-training college in New Zealand. She loves encouraging women to step out in faith, and you can find her writing ministry over at Her Mustard Faith.

I Cherish These Tender Moments with You, My Son

In: Motherhood, Toddler

You gave me your first kiss this evening. It was a warm evening. September 9, 2024. Your brother was already in bed, so you had Mom and Dad to yourself. We were eating chicken strips and vegetables outside, enjoying a beautiful evening with a hint of early fall already in the air. You were running around and coming back for bites of supper as you pleased. Your dad and I were sitting at the table, watching you pretend to be an airplane and run around the yard. You came up to me, and you were smiling. It was such a...

Keep Reading

You Can Never Be Too Careful with Toddlers around Water

In: Motherhood, Toddler

I was right there watching when it happened, thank God. My 14-month-old toddler was standing beside the bathtub her big sister was bathing in. She was reaching over the edge, playing with a ball and a cup in the water. My 6-year-old was playing her own game in the water. I was watching them play, thinking about all the things I needed to get done. Some days, I would use my older daughter’s bath time as a chance to get some laundry done down the hall, checking on her intermittently. I would do my best to keep the toddler with me...

Keep Reading

The Push and Pull of Parenting

In: Motherhood, Toddler

The playground lately is pure terror—for me. My 19-month-old jettisons up the metal steps, grasping a railing too big for her hands. She is not quite sure-footed: sometimes she transitions into a crawl or scoot. Then she pulls herself off the stairs, onto the play structure, and tumbles down the slide. Again and again, she repeats this, increasing in confidence, falling, succeeding, repeating, while I—in accordance with momfluencer gospel—remind myself not to intervene. She is bold, excited, risk-taking, social here; she shrieks with delight. The sunlight catches on the halo of her delicate hairline. I have to drag her out...

Keep Reading

I’m Going to Miss Holding You on My Hip

In: Baby, Motherhood, Toddler

Mother holding toddler son on hip, color photo

I’m going to miss our hip-hold the most. You are my last baby and all our lasts are dwindling before my eyes. Don’t get me wrong, nap and bedtime snuggles are equally precious, but lately, I’ve wanted to gobble up all the times in between to hold you on my hip. I love how you nestle in. Your little frame, the perfect fit. You don’t stay here as long these days–on my left hip–but my body is well-conditioned now if you need to. Your sisters paved a comfy path for you, and I learned long ago to manage so much...

Keep Reading

Saying Goodbye to the Last Toddler

In: Kids, Motherhood, Toddler

Little boy holding to number three balloon, color photo

I said goodbye to two today. The very last toddler in our home. You still have those squishy cheeks, those inquisitive eyes, those bubbling toddler giggles and adorable toddler voice, but you seem a bit older today now that you’re three. I’m excited for you to grow and mature, but since you’re my last baby, two was a little bit harder to let go of this time. Two is too big to cradle all the time, but too small to leave my side for long. Too big to help with every little thing, but too small to realize some things...

Keep Reading

What My Heart Warrior Taught Me about Milestones

In: Baby, Motherhood, Toddler

We all know how competitive mamas feel about baby milestones. Whether we openly admit to it or not, we all have a mental clock ticking down the weeks or months until our precious little genius needs to learn how to roll over, sit up, crawl, walk, and talk, among other things. Not only do we not want our baby to be behind his peers, we want him to be miles ahead! Even if we don’t brag about it out loud, we are secretly thrilled when our Einstein-in-the-making rolls over weeks before other babies. We just love the comments from strangers...

Keep Reading

This is the Bittersweet Goodbye to the Baby Years

In: Baby, Motherhood, Toddler

Little girl pushing toddler brother in baby swing, color photo

Last August, I had my last baby. Oof. Even typing those words makes my heart ache. There’s something so final, so sad, so unreal about acknowledging the end of having babies. Maybe it’s because I’m the type of person who likes to keep all the doors open. I love possibilities. I hate goodbyes. And this, my friends, feels like a very hard goodbye. When I think about being done having kids, it feels like a goodbye to the baby years. For six years now, all I’ve known is the baby years. And while the baby years can drain me and...

Keep Reading

When Your Baby becomes a Big Boy

In: Baby, Motherhood, Toddler

My son recently learned how to climb out of things, so I asked my husband to take the side off the crib to convert it to a toddler bed today. I snapped one last picture of my son in his crib before I hurried off to get him dressed for school. As I got to work, I saw my husband had sent me a text of the transformed crib, and it just about killed me. I know, I know . . . what even changed? It pretty much looks the same. But it’s more than just the side of the...

Keep Reading

I Know This Baby Is Our Last and It’s Bittersweet

In: Baby, Motherhood, Toddler

Three is our magic number. It always has been. It feels like the perfect number of kids for us. Everyone who belongs around my dinner table is here. Our family is complete. And yet even though my family is complete, I still find myself grieving that this is our last baby just a little bit as I pack up the teeny, tiny newborn onesies and socks. I’ve folded up swaddle blankets that saw us through the all-nighters of the newborn phase, ready to be passed along to a new baby in someone else’s family. But they won’t be swaddled around...

Keep Reading

Having a Late Talker Does Not Mean You’re Failing as a Parent

In: Motherhood, Toddler

Toddler boy playing with toys on the floor

As a Child Development Specialist, I enter people’s homes providing developmental intervention sessions and see more than an adorable toddler that I get to teach as their bright eyes believe I have simply come over to play and have fun with them. I work with a vulnerable population, but I don’t mean the children—it’s the new parents. Many times, though not all, I see new parents with questions and they are pushing down fear. So many blame themselves when things aren’t going smoothly. Unsure of what happened that they needed to call Early Intervention or how things will turn out,...

Keep Reading

Love Yourself Like a Mother

Motherhood

Love Yourself Like a Mother

Science Says Kids Are Actually Happier With Fewer Toys {We KNEW It!}

Baby

Toddlers Are Exhausting—And Worth it

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Sina Steele

I Cherish These Tender Moments with You, My Son

You Can Never Be Too Careful with Toddlers around Water

The Push and Pull of Parenting

I’m Going to Miss Holding You on My Hip

Saying Goodbye to the Last Toddler

What My Heart Warrior Taught Me about Milestones

This is the Bittersweet Goodbye to the Baby Years

When Your Baby becomes a Big Boy

I Know This Baby Is Our Last and It’s Bittersweet

Having a Late Talker Does Not Mean You’re Failing as a Parent

Get It Now

So God Made a Mother

Toddlers Are Exhausting—And Worth it

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

I Cherish These Tender Moments with You, My Son

You Can Never Be Too Careful with Toddlers around Water

The Push and Pull of Parenting

I’m Going to Miss Holding You on My Hip

Saying Goodbye to the Last Toddler

What My Heart Warrior Taught Me about Milestones

This is the Bittersweet Goodbye to the Baby Years

When Your Baby becomes a Big Boy

I Know This Baby Is Our Last and It’s Bittersweet

Having a Late Talker Does Not Mean You’re Failing as a Parent

Previous Post

Next Post

You May Also Like