Wipe me!

Yesterday I heard the call: "mom, mommy, mom, wipe me!" This is a usual occurance. However, yesterday as I was wiping Ben's (4) bottom he said these unexpected words, "Am I done?" "Yes," I reply, "You know that you could do this yourself." He says in reply, "Well, that would be awkward." ...that would be awkward. In his little mind, him wiping himself would actually be more awkward than me wiping him. Apparently there is definitely no one else in my life I am more comfortable with than my kids. So, today I am reminded by my 4 year old as I wipe his bum that the people we are closest to are not our siblings, friends or even spouses. No, it is our kids. And they feel it too. This parent/child relationship - this relationship that involves daily cleaning them, snuggling them, spoon feeding them, holding them, singing to them - this is our closest relationship. With whom else can we say we have done these things? Even our spouses can only grab 2 of these 5, maybe 3 I guess if you serenade each other, but still.... You know it is fleeting. Everyone says it is. I read daily forwards about how in 20 years I will "realize my kids are grown and gone and I will miss and sadly forget the everyday details of their childhoods." Not fair, really not fair. I've spent years of my life growing these kids inside me and then more years wiping them, holding them, crying with them and lord only knows what else. Today - with my children ages 11, 9, 6, 4 and 22 months - I am vowing to NOT forget these days, to NOT let these days go by "in the blink of an eye." How will I do this? I will start slowly. One day at a time. One year. This is my first goal. For the next 365 days I will remember and blog these moments - the sweet ones, the gross ones, the messy ones, the sad ones, the happy ones and, I'm just assuming here, the funny ones. So, 364 days to go, and countless moments to remember...