When I had my twins - I was a brand new mother.
I was diligent and dedicated.
I tried various different diaper brands and found the best brand for my new babies.
I talked to them constantly and responded to every little whimper," Oh, what's the matter? You want a bottle? You need mommy to hold you?" and I would scoop them up and snuggle until the whimpers ceased.
I read nursery rhymes and sat on the floor for hours entertaining them with flash cards and the latest toys we purchased on their behalf.
I sang them songs.
I ran when they would fall and scoop them up to sooth the tears and scrapes and scratches. I'd run to the medicine cabinet to retrieve a Band-Aid.
I was ever so concerned about their comfort, their needs and their well-being.
(*Fast forward 16 years and 4 kids later*)
I am in the kitchen, washing 134 dirty dishes in the sink.
Alexis runs in the back door (wearing her pajamas - mind you - with a pair of pink Converse sneakers and a jacket over top. Her hair has yet to see a brush for the day and if it wasn't for the familiarity of the shoes on her feet, I wouldn't have recognized the child to be one of my own).
She starts up the stairs.
She falls.
I look up.
I glance in her direction.
I do not move.
I do not speak.
She looks over her shoulder and she says, "I'm okay," she smiles big. "I'm super okay," and she goes on her way.
I turn back to the sink and resume my duties.
(*Skip forward a few nights later.*)
I am standing next to the stove - my husband by my side - cooking eggs and bacon for dinner.
Little Billy, holding one of our cats in his arms, heads up the stairs.
He falls.
The cat screeches beneath my son's body and then escapes and darts away.
My son looks over his shoulder and he says, "I'm okay --- in case anyone cares."
He crawls on up the stairs to his room.
I look over at my husband.
We laugh.
On the upside ... No children were seriously injured in these poor parenting episodes. There were, however, a couple of parents found rolling around on the floor of their kitchen ... laughing like crazy people ... with eggs and bacon burning on the stove.
Amazing ... the difference 16 years and 4 kids can make.