Are You in a Sweet Spot?

Yes, yes I am! Thanks for posting. This is a perfect reminder for me today as I sit at the computer, in my mostly clean house, eating my lunch in peace while the kids are at their last day of summer camp. Yes, they are old enough to go to summer camp, where did the time go! I will enjoy the rest of my summer break with them!

The link isn't working. But no, never a sweet spot. Our oldest has a host of brain disorders, so we have yet to get a breather. I'm currently fighting our insurance company to get eating disorder treatment for him. If you have a sweet spot, please do appreciate every second of it for those of us who never get one.

Yes I am. The kids are 15, 15, 9 and 7. I have two friends with chronically, seriously ill children whose life expectancies are a question mark so even when we're in "crisis" I know that the cross I bear is really nothing compared to what they go through. But it's nice to not be in crisis or chaos right now, and I relish the relative calm and joy.

You know how when you learn to do something that seems larger than life, you have that point where you're in the middle of it and realize that "OMG I'm really doing it!"? Like when you learn to ride a bike, or swim, or drive and it hits you that you're doing it without really thinking consciously about it? I've had a few of those moments in parenting this summer, where it hits me out of nowhere that we really are giving our kids the kind of lives we hoped they would have. For instance, there was an evening during a heatwave a few weeks ago where my (step) daughter had a couple of friends over swimming, my oldest son came home from work and a couple of neighborhood kids came over, then his best buddy surprised us by coming over literally 2 hours after he got home from summer camp, and my two little boys also had a neighborhood friend over. The little kids were playing in the driveway, the older kids were in the pool and playroom, and luckily we were having breakfast for dinner because of the heat and I was able to cook up bacon, eggs, and waffles for everyone. I think there were 10 or 11 kids total and I realized that yeah, we are that house where everyone feels welcome and the kids know that if a friend comes over at dinner time, she or he can just pull up a chair and join us.

Another day recently, the little boys and their friend from down the block were playing here. They all have walkie-talkies that really work, so it's funny because they can just buzz their friend at his house and vice-versa and they go back and forth between our houses all day. They were playing FBI and it was so cute to see them dressed up as g-men (one boy put on an old suit, the other was wearing black jeans, a tight black t-shirt and a vest a la SSA Morgan on Criminal Minds) and a bad guy, hiding all over the yard trying to capture the bad guy with squirt guns. It was totally the kind of thing that we played in my neighborhood when we were kids and it was so great to see them not playing video games or watching TV or listening to an iPod. It's sometimes really stops me in my tracks to realize that right now, they are living the days that they will look back on when they're adults and some of those days will really be worthy of fond memories.

My kids' lives have certainly not been without crisis or chaos - my oldest son's father left before he was born, my step-daugther's mother abandoned her to us when she was 13 and my younger boys have grown up knowing that their siblings have these mysterious (and lousy) other parents out there - but it's awesome to catch these moments and realize that right now, today, life is good for them.

btw the link to the story is: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julianna-w-miner/the-sweet-...

Thank you so much for sharing this, it was a great reminder that life is good!

My oldest has brain damage, my middle has Asperger's and my youngest ADHD. Never a dull moment at our house and some days easier than others. However, I think life is what you make of it and how you react to things. We live a simple life, try to remove all negative things and people that affect us and try to focus on what's positive. I think it does get a *little* easier when the kids are older, but then comes different issues you have to deal with. You do have to enjoy the peaceful, quiet times because of course, it won't last and something will happen to disrupt that. But in the mean time, I do enjoy a sweet spot, even if it's only for a couple days at a time. =0)

I am. In fact, I posted a comment on this article about how well I can relate to it. My kids are similar ages to her kids, and I'm going through the same emotions right now. As tough and long as some days can be, I want to keep everyone this age for awhile. I don't look forward to the teen years, and having them out and about, driving and getting into God' knows what. I like that I have a ton of control over what they do and who they see. I know I will look back at this time and wish for it all back, even the hardest days!

To NewName, I wish you success with your insurance company and best wishes for your son's health!

Absolutely! And I think it about it so much lately bc I know it'll go so fast and that makes me cry. But bc of this, I think I'm finally ready to take the plunge and quit my job. I want these years with my kids. I don't want them to be teenagers the next time I turn around.

Yes! I'm soaking it all in and trying to take advantage of this incredibly fun stage. I just wish my energy and workload would allow for more chances to get out and go with them more often. I am working on finding the right balance between work, fun and rest. Mine are 7 and 10 and at the right age for great adventures.

No! We had one a couple of months ago, though. Just waiting for the next one...

Yes, and love this. Thanks for posting.

Umm, each day has a sweet spot.

But I am in a waiting spot. Waiting to see if some meds are going to work, waiting to see if college for my youngest will be good.

I do think there is a sweet spot in time from about when the kids are 7- 11.
There is a lull in needs and it comes right before drama.
I see many couples break up during this time. It's like they need stress to keep from focusing on the little things. I want to scream, wait! Things are about to go from 0 to 60 and you need to be together when they do!

Drink in the joy everyday.

I really enjoyed that article when I read it the other day.

Nope, all too young for it to be a sweet spot. If it was just me and baby, it would be fine. Babies are nice and sweet. :-)

Saw that cute article the other day. Made me smile. My mom always says the best age is about 7-11. Which I think were around the ages of the authors kids.

No sweet spot yet... With a 3 and 6 year old, I think I would be heading I toward one in the next couple years but I'll probably have another baby before then :)

My boys are 10 and 12, and we are definitely in the sweet spot. :-)

I love our life. God has blessed us far more than we could ever imagine or deserve.