I’ve asked myself countless times over the six years of parenting, two boys, two and half years apart, has meant a near-constant stream of neediness of some sort or another since the birth of my first little babaru. Of course, that stream is lined with the flowers of joy and wonderment that go along with those early years, so it hasn’t all been bad. In fact, in many ways, the baby, toddler, preschool years have been so blissful, as well as challenging. Wish I could in some way repeat it again especially the baby years.

Have you noticed it now gets easier, slowly from endless to do list as a mama, then one by one, each of those things we need to do for our little babaru’s drops off of our daily or hourly to do list. My little babaru’s start sleeping better, their potty trained {or training still}, eventually, they stop napping. They get themselves dressed. They move into booster seats.

It takes forever, but before we know it our little babaru’s are remarkably self-sufficient. And when that happens with our youngest son, we realise that parenting does get easier. It’s still hard in emotional ways, but logistically, there is a definitive shift at some point.

For me, that shift occurred when our eldest son turned six. That was the magical age when parenting got significantly easier, at least in the practical sense. I no longer needed those endless trips to buy nappies or organix baby snacks. I still however {probably for another two more years, now our youngest is four years old} have to keep a close eye on them especially the little one bullying his brother…can name a list of bittersweet joyful things this particular little babaru does to keep us on our toes.

Beyond all, there was a gradual transition through ages four and five. But there was something about six that signalled a whole new era for us. For me, really. My husband is amazing, but a lot of the work in those early years were mama heavy and now I feel much more relaxed and leave it to baba jaan {daddy} to deal with as this. His simply enjoying this blissful age and joy between the two. And the freedom from those things that I loved - nursing, carrying my babies, teaching my toddlers…

I feel lighter than I ever anticipated that I thought I would miss those adorable ages of nursing, late nights, naps, teaching my toddlers and pre-schooler but I don’t because I lived that era. I lived it fully, with no regrets as being a full-time hand on, active mama I feel like I’m ready for this new stage.

They say that parenting doesn’t get easier, it just gets hard in different ways, and I think that’s true. But for me, getting a break from the relentless needs of the infant and toddler era really does feel like having a weight lifted. So, if you’re deep in the trenches of the early years, know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Age six, I’m telling you. It’s magical and much calmer.

So now it’s a new {me} time to rediscover myself again, find that new balance between health and work…well only between the hours of 9-2.45pm before pick up begins and we start all over again.