I get that when people say, “the days are long, but the years are short” they are referring to the fact that kids grow up quickly…. but do they??? A day during the toddler season is long, and a year, well, that’s 365 of those long days. Three hundred and sixty five. And kids are in the toddler phase from 2-3 years. Let’s not even do that math…

As a mom who is in the thick of things with a four year old, three year old and 20 month old, let me tell you…days are long, grueling, wonderful, hilarious, awful and lovely. And you know what, that’s a lot of feelings for one day… let alone 365!

When more experienced moms with older children tell me that soon these days will be long gone and I’ll miss them so much…..they must not remember the amount of energy, both physical and mental, required to keep toddlers alive.

Here’s the thing, when it’s only 9am but you’ve been up for hours already and you realize you have at *least* ten more hours with your toddlers awake, math stops making sense, time drags on for years and at your child’s next birthday you cannot figure out how they’re turning 3 and not at *least* 11. (Jk, you’re totally crying your eyes out because they’re getting older, but those days felt long AF and there’s no way there were only 365 last year.)

I know that when my kiddos are older I’m going to miss the snuggles, botched words, funny phrases and fresh perspective on life, but I’m also going to love the new, complex conversation, the teenage perspective on life and watching my kids turn into their own budding adults ready to take on the world! Also, it’s going to be really freaking awesome when they can buckle themselves in the car.

And ok, maybe in ten years I’ll be posting about how short the years are and I long for the exhaustion and chaos of toddlers and some young mother is going to want to punch me in the throat. But, here we are in the toddler season and I’m just so thankful for coffee, friends and coffee. And also coffee.