How I got my life back together with small kids (hint, they got older)

So I'm over here all struttin' my stuff. Check me out, I've got the laundry caught up, and I can find the kitchen counter, and I know what I'm eating for dinner this week... I'm totally kickin' it. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

What is my new program? I ask myself. What is the miracle I discovered that transformed me?

Nothing.

Nothing is new except one thing: My baby got older.

Suddenly, I find myself feeling more in control of my life and more aware of my surroundings. I am remembering friend's birthdays again and I'm often showered. I've got a more robust sense of humor. I'm smiling and saying hi to strangers across the street just because the sky is blue.

I'm Mary Poppins, Y'all.

Since my three kids are spaced four and six years apart this is the third time this has happened to me. One day I look up and think: Hello World, you're awesome. Where ya been?

And it is a wonderful feeling to look up.

To look up, look around, and not worry someone is going to dash into the street, dump a cup of water on the floor, or randomly eat something off the ground. The delicious feeling I had when I did dishes yesterday and there was silence. Not the dreaded silence because someone has found my purse or figured out how to climb on the counters but the calm silence because they are playing–even with the puppy–so harmoniously....

...I can't even describe the feeling but it's like a rainbow mixed with a truly funny meme.

I remember asking a dear friend of mine who had kids well before me how she did it. Her kids were closer in age than mine and her answer was immediate:

"I lived in filth for three years."

She said it so matter-of-fact it stunned me.

It was her calm in that moment that has helped me all of these years. She made it. So can I.

Maybe there are parents out there who can keep everything together in their own zen just like it was before their baby came into their lives. (WHO ARE THEY? WHO?!) But for me it's just a real-life blend of "aaaaahhhh" and "awwwww" and "whhhaaaat?" and "oooops" and "sweeeeeeet" during the baby and toddler years because it's so awesome and so hard sometimes and so loving and so frustrating sometimes until one day, before you realize it, that stage is over and you have clean socks.

Two of them. Paired up. They actually match.

Once again, dear friends, I have arrived and let me tell you–it was a messy ride but it was totally worth it.