The joy of having 3 kids means every pic of G yesterday was photobombed and I’m pretty sure they would kill me if I shared.
BUT, we have a 7 year old!!!
G celebrated at LEAST 3 times:
- once at a school celebration
- at her bday party over the weekend
- yesterday night at dinner (local hibachi place, her request, same place as last year!)
She received her dream gift yesterday, an American BOY doll. She was ADAMANT about her choice. We have an American Girl doll that was A’s; it has some “weird Barbie” vibes after many years of use/love/attention/makeovers. G wanted “the boy with the puppy” featured in the catalog and now she has it!
I am not sure G’s personality comes through entirely on this blog . . . but please know, she is a riot. She is very social and talks A LOT, and has a million different ideas that she doesn’t mind sharing, even if they are in “draft” form. She is joyful and loud. She is emotional. She is messy. She is generally very confident. Someday, she wants to be “a famous singer and a doctor.”
She is VIVA. (Pix from 0-6 here and her birth story here which I am going to reread because why not relive that moment?!)
Field trip she got to take yesterday (!) — just happened to be on her bday!
The parental perspective . . . .
My youngest kid is 7. 7!! 7 sounds old to me, it really does. I don’t miss the day to day challenge of having super young kids, but at the same time it feels really bittersweet to be leaving that era entirely behind. In a few months, the kids will be “7, 11, and 13” which seems . . . like wow. HOW did we get here?
I do feel like this school year has felt a bit different, like we are in some new parenting zone. In general: I love it. I never wanted time to “slow down” when the kids were toddlers, but I would linger for extra time in this phase if I could!! It’s not easy per se, but it’s full and it’s fun and I can already tell I will miss it when it’s over.
10 Comments
7 is serious big kid territory! But also still little enough to like toys and be so sweet— these really are perfect years. (I also really like the 11 and 13 y/o in my life right now, but that can turn on a DIME. LOL). (Also! Our kids have also taken a field trip like this one and you could not pay me enough to get in one of those boats.)
My mother refers to your current phase of parenting as the sweet spot. Even if it is not always easy, everyone is at home and asleep in the beds at night and everyone is pretty independent. She says it ends when they get their driver’s license. As the parent of a newly minted driver, I would say that is about right.
Enjoy the sweet spot!
This looks like so much fun! I love that your kids get to canoe in December…it was -15 C with windchill here the other day.I feel like as my kids get older the years zoom by about 1,000x faster than they did when they were infants. I also feel like when kids hit certain stages they have these major leaps in independence that are a bit reminiscent of the rapidity of changes in toddlerhood.
Like my daughter now does all hair things herself (straightens, washes, braids), does her own laundry, makes some basic meals, stays home alone. And she only did a few of those things even a year ago.
Very impressed with your planning for two celebrations for Sunday. Those sounded fun! My youngest just turned 7. It does feel like a very sweet spot in parenting!
Happy bday to G! She sounds like such a delight! I think the elementary years will be the sweet spot for me. My 4yo is so so so cuddly (last week he asked if he could marry me so he could sleep in my bed. Ha.). So I think he will continue to be my cuddler, even in the elementary years. I am not wishing away time but I look forward to a less physically demanding stage of parenting with more emotional regulation. But my friend with a 7 and 9 yo does miss this stage so I said I could drop off my younger anytime she needs a cuddling fix (my younger is so in love with this friend so would happily sit on her lap or snuggle with her). I really can’t imagine missing this stage, though!! Or at least not 0-3. I can’t say I miss that stage for my older child. 5+ seems like the ideal age for me!
G is still very very cuddly. Thankfully!!!
Seven is such a good age! I even remember a lot from when Dyl was seven because I was done with residency. Woohoo! Happy Birthday G!
Happy birthday G! I love that she wanted an American boy doll. Her personality sounds a lot like my 7 year old daughter, she is a creative, messy, chatty riot too! 7 is such a wonderful age, independent yet sweet and still loves toys, cuddles etc. 🙂
happy birthday G! she’s so cute!!! It sounds like she and Lizzy could be friends hahahah…. similar personality and always the baby of the family.
Somehow I still think of G as a preschooler. But, 7 is definitely a new phase! She sounds like an amazing kid. And, I know that feeling, where I kind of want time to stop right here for a while. Every phase is fun though, in its own way.