The 5 Best Things About Being Paisley’s Mummy April 28, 2012

April 2012

This is Paisley. Paisley is 4 years old. She is crazy, fun, and has a flair for the dramatic. The following are the five things I like best about being her Mum.

5) I love that she cares so much about other people. She is usually quite selfless and I often wonder if I have a mini humanitarian in the making. She loves to make people smile, and laugh. She also love to give her time to things. If someone needs help with something, Pais will happily volunteer to lend a hand. I love that about her. I know one day when she is old enough she will be the kid who spends her saturday mornings working at the animal shelter down the road.

4) Paisley sleeps in. Now that might not seem like much, but when you’re a sleep deprived Mum, it means everything in the world to get just an extra half an hour on a Sunday morning. When Pais was born she had colic for the first 5 months. Shaughn and I would split up our nights to deal with her. She screamed from 7pm almost 4am. It was 6:59 and we had a happy baby, but at 7, BAM! Screamy, squirmy, red-faced angry Paisley came out. Shaughn would send me to bed at 7, and let me sleep till 1 or 2, then I would get up so he could sleep till 8 to be to work for 9. It was a rough time. At 5 months someone flipped a switch and suddenly my devil possessed, tense, high-strung baby turned into a sleeping miracle kid. She will sleep often on the weekends till 8:30, after going to bed at 7:30…that’s right YO! 13 Hours!!!! That’s MY kid!

3) I think that Paisley has an amazing imagination, and I love to listen to her make up stories, and songs, scenes that she acts out. It’s incredible. I am always amazed at all the new things that come so freely out of her mouth. Sometimes she is a fire fighter, or a princess, last night she was a king. She loves music and will bust a move as we clean or cook!

2) Paisley is energised by learning. She loves to practice her letters, learn about space, animals, and how numbers work. She is always asking questions and really listens to the answer. God help me if I don’t have it, yesterday she asked me to “Google it”….good gracious, she’s only 4!!!!! When I think about myself at her age, I know I was the same, and I still am. I love to learn, to read, and am constantly ‘googling’ things to find the answer. She seeks out knowledge, and with each new subject she finds new and different ways of looking at things. She often will start at topic A, and end somewhere around Q….She loves to ask ‘What if’….What if I did this, or if I did this, what will happen. It’s amazing.

1) My daughter keeps me young. She constantly makes me reevaluate why and how I do things. She makes me want to be a better mother. She encourages me to continue my own self learning, and keeps me grounded. She reminds me that sometimes it’s the littlest things that are important. I can’t go on a walk with her without stopping to smell the flowers, it’s impossible. And I think sometimes, we ALL need to stop and smell the flowers, otherwise life just passes us by too quickly, and how sad is that?

 

What are the top 5 things you love about your child?

A Letter For Paisley On Her 4th Birthday February 21, 2012

I loved you before you were you.

And now you are four.

My dearest Paisley, from the moment Daddy told me I was pregnant, I was in love with you. I would think about you during the day, and at night in my dreams we would run holding hands, laughing and dancing.

Now you are four, and I don’t have to dream. We do run, and play and dance. We laugh so hard we cry.

I remember when you were a colicky baby, and for hours on end I would hold and rock you, I wished so hard for you to grow up, and now that you are, I would give anything to hold you in my arms again.

I love the person you are becoming Paisley, I love your crazy sense of humour, you can turn even the worst situations into a comedy routine. I love that you are a good friend, you hold your friends always close in your heart, often thinking of them when they aren’t around. I love that you are empathetic, you care for everyone, and want to save the world.

I love that you are a perfectionist, I know that one day it will come back and bite you, but I can appreciate your need for order and discipline.

I love that you are learning new things everyday, and that you love to learn. Your fascination with space isn’t as fleeting as I thought it would be, you love to learn about the planets, and remember facts that I don’t. I love that you love to read, and to tell me stories. I could sit and watch you play with your imaginary friends for hours. I see you reliving your days in your play, and it makes me so happy.

You are growing up so quickly Paisley, when I call you my baby you remind me that you are a big girl. Yesterday though, you added on that you will always be my baby, and you will.

The only thing I wish for you Paisley, and the only thing I will ever wish for, is for your happiness. When people ask what I want for you, I tell them that I want for you to be happy. I don’t need you to have a well-paying job, or a partner, or children, or a house even. All I wish for is for you to be happy. As long as you wake each morning knowing that you are loved, as long as you know that your actions can change the world for better and for worse, as long as when you wake each day, you are confident enough to grab the day, smile at it and own it. As long as you are happy.

So my 4-year-old Paisley, Happy Birthday Lovey, you are my world, and you always will be.

Love,

Mummy