It Gets Easier

Raising young children is no joke.  Life with a 5 year old, 3 year old, and 1 year old feels crazy most days.  But if I stop to observe them for a moment, I see that it does get easier.  So, those of you with infants, 1, 2, and 3 year olds, hang in there!  Observe through this chart of our morning activities how it does, in fact, get easier.

1st thing child does upon awakening:
     1 year old - Plays with toilet brush.
     3 year old - Hugs 1 year old.    
     5 year old - Quietly sits in bed with a transformer.

Using the Potty:
     1 year old - Gets diaper changed while running around the room.
                        Pulls all of the toilet paper out of the roll in the bathroom.
     3 year old - Takes herself and gets coached on wiping and pulling up pants.
     5 year old - Goes totally unassisted. 

Eating Breakfast:
     1 year old - Smears banana in hair, throws grapes on ground, spits water
                        down shirt, feeds pancake to dog.
     3 year old - Is reminded to stop playing with food.  Spills milk on floor.
     5 year old - Eats all his breakfast and helps get everyone a fork.

Getting Dressed:
     1 year old - Gets peeled out of food-covered clothes.  Dressed while on the go.
     3 year old - Help her select clothes so she doesn't wear cute sun-dress in 50
                        degree weather.  Help her get dressed so it doesn't take 2 hours.
     5 year old - Selects clothes and gets dressed himself (with minor coaching on
                        how to match and find pants that cover his every-growing legs).

Doing Hair:
     1 year old - Ignore the banana smeared through hair... we're running late.
     3 year old - Wipe agave nectar out of hair, then brush tangles and style.
     5 year old - Hair looks great without doing a thing to it... yay!

Getting on Shoes:
     1 year old - Has scattered siblings' shoes throughout the house after chewing
                        on most of them.
     3 year old - Help her put on her tennis shoes.  If left up to her, she'll wear two
                        different colored shoes on the wrong feet (on purpose).
     5 year old - Gets his shoes on himself.

 (isn't that an adorable shoe!?)

It's refreshing to remember that I won't be wiping their bottoms for forever!  My dear 5 year-old, I am thankful for your independence.