77. Middle Mom Reflections: My Insight into Growing with My Boys

Remember the days of lugging around a stroller on every family walk? Those days are behind us, and I've found a newfound sense of freedom in the simple joys of motherhood. 

Join me as I reminisce about the delightful chaos of chaperoning my son Maverick's pumpkin patch field trip, which brought back a flood of memories from his toddler years. With milestones like no longer needing a stroller and the surprising ease of daylight saving time this year, I've been reflecting on how motherhood is constantly evolving.

As my boys edge closer to their teenage years, I've been pondering the big and small transitions we're facing. The anticipation of new experiences and milestones is both thrilling and a little daunting, as we adjust to changing family routines. Whether it's savoring a shower after a beach trip or navigating the school pickup line, these moments are a reminder that we are all on this journey of motherhood together. Tune in for a heartfelt exploration of these transitions and the joy that comes with each new phase of family life.

📺 Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOpw5ui4uxJHx0tLFVtpnfSkpObfc4d-K

You can find Katie at:
website: burntpancakes.com
YouTube: @burnt.pancakes
Instagram: @burntpancakeswithkatie
Email: katie@burntpancakes.com

🚽 Did you know Katie is also a Certified Potty Trainer? 🚽

☎️ Schedule a 1:1 chat today: Schedule Here
💻 Digital Potty Training Course HERE
📖 Potty Training E-Book HERE
🆓 FREE potty training resources HERE
Instagram: @itspottytime
Tiktok: @itspottytime_

Transcript

00:09 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Hello, hello and welcome back to the Burn Pancakes podcast. I am your host, Katie Fenske. I'm a mom of three on a mission to remind moms that everyone burns their first pancake, so today's episode is going to be short and sweet. I have school pickup very soon Wednesdays. My boys get out early so I've got to be ready to pick them up. But I wanted to share a few things that have been going on in my life right now. So recently a friend of mine she's a mom of three lives in this area. She posted that she and her family took their first non-stroller walk in over eight years. 

00:46
And if you were a mom kind of at the stage I'm at, like that middle mom stage you'll remember what that feels like to think, oh my gosh, my family is not using our stroller anymore. I remember feeling that when I told my husband like we took the stroller out of the car once and he's like, do we really even need this anymore? And I'm like, no, I guess we can put it. We have it in our shed. I'm keeping it just in case we have company come out or something. But it was a weird feeling to go. I guess we don't need that anymore. It feels freeing, it feels really nice, but it's also like you do remember every experience before you had that stage. So what I wanted to do is share a few of the like milestones motherhood milestones that I have experienced in the last couple weeks, last couple months and the first one happened Sunday was daylight saving time. 

01:41
So prior to this year, for the last 10 years, daylight saving came around. I would hear fall back and it was like how are we going to prepare? What are we going to do? Today is going to be awful. The kids are going to be up at like four in the morning. This year it came around and then we went to bed at night and the next morning I think Ronan was probably up at five, 30. Um, but because we let them watch TV on the weekends, he kind of just went to the room, started watching TV and Maverick got up maybe an hour later and I stayed in bed and they were fine. Um, Maverick's almost five, so when he and Ronan are awake, Ronan's fine, he can take care of them. Um, but it felt very strange, Like I remember looking at my husband later that day and I was like, do you realize? 

02:33
It was daylight saving, fall back and it wasn't awful, other than the fact that it was dark at like four 30, other than the fact that I started making dinner and then realized it's only four o'clock and no one's going to be eating this right now. Um, other than that, it was not the end of the world. It wasn't like in years previously. It is that I hate that day. It is so hard and it takes like two weeks for the kids to adjust to this one. Right now it's like yeah, we were okay. Like the boys are still waking up a little bit earlier than normal, so normally I would wake them up at seven o'clock to get to school. Ronan's been getting up in between six and seven, maybe like six 30, but it's not that bad, Cause I have to get them up anyways. So if you have little babies, just get through it. It's the terrible day. I thought we voted to get rid of it and it's still here, but, um, coming up, it should get. It should get a little bit easier. 

03:32
I found out this year. This year felt like this is the first time that I didn't have to worry too much about daylight saving time. Um, another thing that happened was last week. I got to go on the pumpkin patch field trip with Maverick's class. He's in TK, Um, so I was the chaperone. Um, it's 25 kids in his class, 25, four and five-year-olds crazy I know. So I had a group of like five, five little little kids in my group. 

04:02
But as we were at this pumpkin patch it's Irvine park, If anyone's in the area um, we took a bus. The bus is like five minutes from a school. We did, like the train, the hayride. They got to pick out a pumpkin. But as we were there, I kept seeing you know, it's a public place moms with their strollers and their babies and they were meeting their friends and the kids were all in there like autumn attire, and I just kept thinking this was me. You know, for the last eight years I took my boys every year to the pumpkin patch, that exact one. We took pictures there. I met my friends there, we did that train ride. And it was so weird to be there on like a Tuesday morning, realizing like I'm now here with the school field trip with my school age kid and there's all those like toddler moms. So it was fun for me, I loved it, but it also brought back memories that I'm not in that stage anymore. I didn't even have pumpkin patch on my to-do list this this fall, which felt kind of weird, Cause that was always like a must when you have toddlers, so that felt a little bit different. Um, okay, Another thing. 

05:09
This happened yesterday and I was like, yes, this was glorious, I need to talk about this. We went to the beach and when we got home, normally when you have little kids it's like bathe them, feed them now, entertain them until nighttime, and then I'll finally get to wash the sand off me. But yesterday we came home and I got the kids cleaned up. They needed a snack. They were just going to hang out in the house and I was like I'm going to go take a shower. I want you guys staying in the house, but I'm just going to go take a shower. And I was able to shower right after pretty much right after getting home from the beach, which is another thing that just feels like, oh my gosh, this is when you can't do that. Then being able to feels like such a luxury and I took like a full shower. Um, so that felt really good and it made me realize like I am officially in middle mom status, middle mom phase, where I can take showers up to the beach when my kids are still awake and it feels good, Um, okay, I've also noticed school pickup is way easier when you don't have a baby or toddler in the car with you for 20 minutes just sitting in a car line. 

06:17
So there was a mom ahead of me the other day and I could see she got her like maybe a 10 month old baby, I don't know a little baby out of the car seat and she was just having it sit on her lap and he was like holding the steering wheel and she's getting toys out and entertaining him, Cause we usually have to sit there maybe like 15, 20 minutes and just don't move. And I just remember thinking how exhausting it was sitting in that pickup line when I had a kid in the car, but I was sitting there reading my book, just enjoying 20 minutes of peace and quiet, and that was freeing, that felt great and at that point I was grateful that I didn't have to be the mom entertaining the little baby. Loved those years, so great. But I was happy to be just sitting and reading my book. Okay, Another thing that is coming up for our family is all three of the boys will be playing baseball in the spring. 

07:16
So that means all three of them are going to be signed up for a team. So Maverick officially doesn't have to be the kid running around hitting up the snack bar. He gets to participate in baseball. This year He'll be doing T-ball, so all three of them will be playing. And I remember thinking for the last couple of years I basically just been with jet and Maverick. I mean, jet played last year, but I've always had to be like going to the playground with one. Or where did that kid go? I haven't seen him in five minutes. Where is he? Or hitting up the snack bar, Cause we're trying to keep them entertained. 

07:50
I've always been the mom that had to take care of littles during baseball, whether it's practice or the games. And I remember seeing a mom very early on, maybe when Ronan was in T-ball. She set up her chair and would just like sit in the outfield and read her book while the kids practiced. And I thought, oh my gosh, when all of my boys are in sports, I'm going to do that. I'm going to be the mom that doesn't have to go to the playground, that can just sit and read and enjoy myself. So if the stars align and all of my boys have practiced at the same time, same day. I can be, I can be optimistic about that. Then I'm just going to bring my book and sit in my chair and read while they do that. But it just felt like a fun um milestone to say that they're all going to be playing sports now. It's gonna be crazy, crazy spring season, but, um, I am definitely looking forward to that. 

08:47
So those were my recent motherhood milestones that I have experienced. I was kind of thinking about it. I wonder if, when my boys are all like transitioning to teenagers, if I'm still going to feel like that transition, Because, like when you move from like baby toddler to middle mom, you start seeing, like I don't use the stroller anymore and we can sleep in on Saturdays. Will I feel that when they're teenagers but still appreciate that new stage? I think I will, but it'll be interesting to see that stage. Anyways, I told you this one had to be short because I'm off to school pickup. I'll read a little bit of my book and think of all you moms who are entertaining your babies while you're sitting in that 20 minute car line. But I will see you again next week with another momversation and, like every week, I am here to remind you that everyone burns their first pancake, so just keep flipping.