Because she'll never be three again...

It dawned on me during one exhausting moment of mothering... I think Cassie wanted to be picked up and carried in the midst of harsh weather conditions. My arms were already sunken down from the weight of more bags than I had limbs hanging from my shoulders.

But I thought..."she'll never be three again." I will miss the moments of carrying her say when she's 7 and weighs 3/4 of my weight instead of 1/4 of my weight (try and guess my weight if you dare ha!)

At any rate I challenge myself and all mothers really to consider all the cool things and not so cool things that will only last a short while at this stage in your child's life.

BECAUSE SHE'LL NEVER BE THREE (3) AGAIN...
-I let her choose to stand on the back of shopping carts or sit inside
-I give her a band aid daily because there's emotional value in band aids more than anything
-I speak positively to build her growing self image and esteem
-I let her drink from sippy cups and funky straws
-I don't get mad about broken crayons, dried out markers
-I tear the crust off of her peanut butter sandwhiches (sometimes eating them)
-I follow behind her to make sure she's done a good job of wiping her bottom
-I kiss all over her face!!!!!
-I give her piggy back rides
-I sometimes check around her room for her. Just to make sure there are no monsters hiding.
-I give her a break sometimes with discipline
-I let her eat dessert first from time to time (heck grandma did it with me!)
-I don't correct her speech, I model instead
-I give her high 5's for every accomplishment
-I let her ride the penny horse at Meijers
-I pair silly clothing that has stripes with pieces that have polkadots and all sorts of things that don't match perfectly...she's 3
-I buy plenty of barrettes and bows to adorn her hair
-I let her play in my makeup
-I teach her about God
-I go to plenty of "cartoon" movies at the theater and ALWAYS get her popcorn
-I hold her hand sometimes and fall asleep next to her
-I call her names like "baby waby" and "puddin wuddin" and "boolee pops"
-I paint her nails a whole rainbow of colors
-We jump on the bed together
-We use sugar packets as skipping stones in resturaunts to play hopscotch while we wait on our food

I love everything about this 3 year old and because she'll never be three again we take advantage of every moment.