She is finally growing up

Daniel always gives me a hard time for wanting Emily to grow up. It's not that I want her to be 25 all of the sudden, I just have always looked forward to the age where I can start doing arts and crafts with my children. (I can't tell you where it all went, but I use to be a very creative person.) I mean, all we are talking about here is her being a year of two older. Then, if she wants, she can stop growing and stay that age forever. Is that really too much to ask?

Well, at my last OB appointment, I decided to drop Emily off at daycare. You have no idea how hurt I was when I went to pick her up and found out they did arts and crafts. I was suppose to be the one to introduce that to her! In all honesty, though, I had no clue she was even old enough to paint. (I constantly underestimate her.) We can hardly eat our food without making a huge mess, so I thought painting was out of the question.

I decided it was time for us to start coloring, painting, and making things. I basically copied the daycare's idea of Emily painting leaves for fall and we made some for family. Of course, with the short attention span, we only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was fun while it lasted.

I couldn't find the smock I was looking for, so we painted naked. Being the great Daddy that he is, Daniel came home and showed her how to paint on her body. I tried explaining to him that even though she is so young, it is important that we start teaching her lessons, such as paint is for the paper... not for your body. He insisted that this lesson was not a fun one. We left it at that.

Do all parents feel this way about wanting their child to grow up? I have a friend Esther, who has a baby younger than Emily. She commented to me that she can't wait for her child to be Emily's age. But then, I look at my friend Leah who has a 2 year old, and I can't wait for that. I keep thinking it is because she is my first. I assure myself that I will enjoy the others more when they are younger because I will have an older one doing the things I have been waiting for. I guess we will see.