Little girl messes

While waiting for our dinner to bake in the oven yesterday evening, I gazed around the family room and decided to tidy up a bit. So I gathered up the phone charger cables, picked up a couple pair of giant Converse shoes and moved the brand new prom dress still hanging in its dress bag to a higher spot so it didn’t get touched. Then I folded up the couch blanket and scooped up some loose ponytail holders and headbands. As I continued to mosey about, picking up since I had a few spare minutes, I suddenly had a flashback. Just a few years ago I was picking up toys every evening and then it hit me. Gosh, I haven’t picked up toys in forever!

Then I began to reflect how much our household has changed in what seems like not all that long ago. Just yesterday, my living room was cluttered with toys, fruit snack wrappers and little socks and shoes. Blankies and pacifiers, doll clothes and princess dresses, that’s what were strung about on a daily basis. Little pink jackets on the bench by the front door and Barbie clothes were velcroed to the couch cushions. Wooden puzzles, board books and the Hi Ho Cherry game were under the coffee table and little fingerprints were everywhere.

There were juice boxes, with goldfish and cheerios scattered on the side tables. Polly Pocket pieces were hidden in the carpet fibers and a pair of plastic dress up shoes sat along with the families tennis shoes by the door. Crayons and color books rested under the tv stand, alongside a collection of classic Disney movies. That’s what I tidied each evening and sometimes two or three times a day. Proof of little lives running around my house.

And last night, there I was, picking up after big girls. Wow! My life has changed and so quickly! And as much as I remember wishing back then that my family room would stay clean, now I miss it their little girl messes. These days, I pick up empty water bottles and pop cans, and I gather up half eaten bags of chips and bowls of cheese dip off the coffee table. There are giant pairs of shoes laying around the living room floor, and heaps of hoodies and sports bags lay on the bench by the door. There are phones and iPads and headphones laying on the couches, and sketch pads and the new adult aged coloring books lay under the tv stand.

When did this happen? I’m not sure exactly when but, there’s been a transition from little kid to big kid in my house. As fast as their childhoods are flying by, I’m not surprised I didn’t recognize when it happened. My family room, which use to hold toys on a daily basis, now maybe sees toys once a year when my nieces and nephews visit. My little girls are now big girls and their messes reflect that. Anyway, I’ve found that these kinds of shocking moments happen along a mom’s journey and its funny how you think something will never end and then you realize one day it did end, and you didn’t even realize it. So last night, my heart hurt just a bit when I realized I missed their little girl messes.