Seven years ago today, I became a mother for the first time. I will never forget that day and can't believe how quickly time went by. He was 13 months old when we welcomed his baby sister into the world and by his third birthday, he had a baby brother too.

It's safe to say that I have my hands full!

By now I am an expert at feeding children and changing diapers! I can easily change a diaper blindfolded, with my hands tied behind my back....pfffft...not really, but let's just say that I can do it blindfolded.

I can only speak for parents of 3 children. Those who have more have all my respect!
The "parent-paranoia" differs from firstborn to lastborn. With a firstborn, you try to do everything by the book. Each time the pacifier touches something other than the baby's mouth, you run to wash and sterilize it.

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With baby number 2, you've already seen that baby number 1 didn't fall sick after sucking his fingers while crawling on the kitchen floor, so the pacifier gets a quick rinse under the tap and gets sterilized once a day, maybe, but only when it touches the floor.
Last borns - well, IF there is a pacifier and it wasn't stolen from his mouth by toddler number 2, it will probably get a rinse once a day and get sterilized the next morning because you're too tired to do it tonight.

What a day it was when we had to throw away the last few unused diapers. I had mixed feelings that day - both happy and sad that it was over...hmmm, okay no, honestly, I was smiling while having mixed feelings about it. It was great to be able to carry a handbag again instead of a diaper bag. I'm still carrying wet wipes, but that's it.

With that being said, they still grow up way too fast.

They are born...THEN YOU BLINK...and the next thing you know, they're big. We celebrated his 7th birthday today and it hit me between the eyes: He is growing up! I blinked!!! Reality comes knocking at the door saying: What have you done with the time?

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Soon they'll all be moody teenagers and I've been playing "policeman" all this time, wasting my time on cooking, cleaning and keeping them from killing each other. Even though I want them to be independent, I still want them to enjoy the innocence of childhood...It reminds me of this poem that I've seen shared many times before and each time it speaks to me.