I Just Wish Someone Would Have Told Me

Tomorrow Molly will turn three. She is thrilled. In fact, we have been counting down to her birthday since the first day of January. Each morning we dutifully take our red marker and cross off another day. If you’re keeping track, we now have 58 red X’s on the calendar.

Why, you ask, is Molly so excited? Does she like birthdays, presents or parties that much? No, she is excited because she is finally going to sleep in a big girl bed! A fact that she has reminded me about every day for the past 58 days.

She has been ready to make the move to the big girl bed for quite some time. She stared asking when she was two. But, I took the same route with the big girl bed that I did as I did with potty training: wait until she really, really wanted it, and then make her wait another six months.

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Cruel? Maybe, but she had so long to look forward to potty training only took me a weekend. She was motivated. I anticipate that the transition to the big girl bed will be the same. No problemo.

I have spent several weeks picking out new bedding, furniture and accessories for Molly’s big girl room. I have a visual in my head of what I expect her room to look like sans crib: Where the big girl bed will be placed, where the new chairs will be place, heck, I even know where I want each toy.

I even have a plan for the unveiling of the new room. I will put Molly down for her nap in my bedroom and then while she is sleeping I will go into her room, take out the baby furniture and transform her room. When she wakes up, she can walk into her room and it will be a brand new place.

I realize that Molly is making this transition and have done a great deal of planning for it. I understand that she is now going to be sleeping in a bed. Bust just last night something occurred to me. My baby is no longer going to be sleeping in a crib. Why didn’t anybody tell me this!

I know it seems straight forward: Crib comes down, bed goes up, Molly sleeps in her bed. No more crib. But nobody told me that tonight, when I lay her down in her crib, I will be doing it for the very last time. Waaaaah!
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Wow, was I overcome with emotion when this little realization hit me. Molly has been telling me for quite sometime, “I’m still a baby, Mom, but not for much longer!”

Not for much longer, indeed.

I guess I prepared Molly for the transition, I prepared the room for the transition, but I never looked at the fact that I am not ready for the transition. Again I say, Waaah! What happened to my baby?

Today, Molly and I spent some time taking some last pictures of her in her crib and highchair (yea, that’s leaving tomorrow as well). Molly didn’t understand it, but I needed it. It’s my transition, I guess.

Good Golly this parenting thing can be hard sometimes. I just wish someone would have told me.