1) I was walking Charlie the other afternoon, on one of our surprise-spring-warm-days (not today which is absolutely frigid again). As I approached this one corner house, I saw 2 little boys playing in the front yard. Maybe… 4 and 6? 5 and 7? Somewhere in there.
Anyway, it was such a nice day and the sight of them playing made me smile. It also made me nostalgic for when my boys were those ages and used to play outside all the time. I was having little flashbacks to how cute they were, wishing I could somehow turn back the clock, just for a moment, missing that sweet stage…
Suddenly the younger boy grabbed one of the whiffle balls they were playing with and chucked it right at the older brother. It smacked him hard and the older boy shrieked and burst into tears, and then started chasing the younger boy, who then also started screaming. Then I heard the mom yell from inside, through the screen door, “(Younger brother), get in here right now. Now. Go to your room.” Meanwhile, older brother still wailing on the front lawn…
Oh. Um, never mind. I’m good on the little kids. 😂😂 Hahaha. Yeah, it was fun while it lasted, but thanks-but-no-thanks on some of that. 😅
Weren’t they sweet?? 😉 I think around 5 and 7 here.
2) Also while walking Charlie yesterday, I walked past a newly built home in the back of our neighborhood. A very lovely home.
I noticed it had one of those big wooden signs leaning up against it next to the front door (probably from one of those Board and Brush places, I think). It caught my eye so I paused to read it. It said, in big vertical letters:
“GO AWAY”. Then beneath that, in smaller letters, “Go on, git!”
Um, what? Why would you put that at your front door? I mean, I guess to each their own. But WOW, talk about uninviting!! I want to assume (hope?) that it’s meant to be funny, but I guess it doesn’t strike me as very funny.
But then, it brought up a memory. It reminded me of when my sister and I were both ~tween aged and for some reason felt we needed to hang “Knock First” signs on our bedroom doors. (Not sure exactly who we thought was going to come barging in from our small family of 4, and it’s not like we were ever doing anything in there that required particular privacy?! 🤣 Anyway.)
I recall that my older sister wrote up this very sweet sign. I don’t remember exactly, but it was something like: “Greetings! Welcome to my room. I request that you please knock, and wait for me to respond, before entering. Thank you!” I think she had written it in flowy, scroll-like lettering and decorated it very daintily.
My sign, however, said something like:
Hey! Hey you! Yeah, you! Stop right there! Don’t even think about coming in here without knocking first!!!”
I think I decorated it with a huge red stop sign and lots of exclamation points.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
hahaha! Maybe I am the type of person who would put a “go away” sign on my front door, after all. LOL. I feel like I recall my mom chuckling over these signs and saying something like, “Well if this doesn’t show their personality differences, I don’t know what does.” hehe.
(Of the two of us, I was definitely always the “spunkier” one as a kid… just sort of had a little sassy side. What can I say. 🤷♀️)
What was your kids’ favorite age? Ever wish you could go back in time? And, would you put a GO AWAY sign at your front door??
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for a couple of cancelled meetings today 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
My favorite kids’ age is whatever they are now, each year! Although, Is was such a charming 8 year old that we thought “maybe third? NO” lol.
I wouldn’t put the sign on my door but L and I laugh at those because we’re introverts and that’s how we feel about people selling stuff door to door. I’m always cooking dinner when they come. Once, we saw a house for sale with GO AWAY outside and it gave us the giggles (missed during the staging process)!
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HAHA that would be hilarious to see a Go Away sign at an open house/ for sale house. LOL! Love that about I as well. Can absolutely see him being a sweetheart at 8, though he seems sweet at all ages. 💕
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I love my kids current age, and I can have the response every time people ask me no matter their current age. While I miss their baby time, so cute those cheeks, I’d rather be able to hang out with them, have a conversation, and not having to be on top of them all the time. I am looking forward to the day they stop fighting. hehe.
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Yes, I really love any age that allows me to leave them home alone/ not have to watch them constantly! Once we got to that point (which was years ago, now) it felt like a whole other world. SO nice.
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My son is 6 and I keep thinking each age is my favourite. I really love seeing his personality develop, we have good chats, he’s so independent that it’s less of a physical chore, etc.
I would not put a “go away” sign on my door. I can see how it seems funny, but I’d find it really off-putting. And also, the fake folksy language in a presumably quite pricey house?
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Agree on the folksy language thing too! And yes, it’s a very nice home, brand new build and that just seems rather off putting to me. But, I guess it’s their house! They can put any sign out there they want. Haha.
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I definitely like this stage of parenting more than the infant/toddler years. The challenges are different, but I appreciate watching them develop into their unique personalities. Also, it really is easier given my personality. Toddlers are EXHAUSTING and UNPREDICTABLE. I love that I can close my door and my kids will now KNOCK IF THEY NEED ME and not barge in.
I do kinda want to cry bittersweet tears watching videos and looking at pictures from when they were little, though.
That sign. Um, what now!?
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They are soooo cute when little but everything is just so hard! I think one of my biggest things that I DON’T miss is when meal time was such a production. Thinking back to baby years where you had to sit and like spoon feed them, or sit them in a high chair and be fully attentive during their entire meal… ugh. That always felt like a drag. Not to mention the inevitable mess all over ((them… the chair… the floor…). In general I am just happy that the kids are technically old enough to feed themselves! Granted, they don’t always cook up a nice healthy meal, but I have zero concerns that they will starve if I don’t provide a meal at this point. 😉
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Hahaha I was at the grocery store (where else do I go) and there was a mom there with the cutest little kids and they were helping pick out produce and it made me SO nostalgic (let’s pick out five apples! One, two…) Later I saw that mom in the lineup with one of the children just completely hysterical and the other saying they needed to potty, and I was like, yup, that sounds right.
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Haha! Oh, I also don’t miss grocery shopping with my kids. I don’t like grocery shopping anyway, and I swear my oldest would try to terrorize me at the store. He always strayed from the cart, touched things, just didn’t listen in that setting… I remember being exhausted by him so many times.
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Like most parents I also have mixed feelings! Sometimes I’ll miss the toddler stage so much (little kids, little problems; big kids, big problems) but then when I think hard about what it was really like, I’m so relieved to be done with it. I think if I could go back in time it would be to the newborn phase! I loved having newborns so, so much. But I would only go back in time if it were temporary- I wouldn’t want to have to relive everything that comes after that!
What I really think is, I’m ready for grandkids. I mean- not quite yet. My son is only 21 so I don’t actually want grandkids right now, but emotionally I’m ready for them.
I totally get that front door sign (although I wouldn’t actually do that.) 99% of the time someone knocks on my door, they’re selling something- specifically right now, solar panels. It just feels like a huge intrusion on my space. Maybe I need a sign that says “If you’re selling solar panels, GO AWAY!”
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Gosh I can’t say that I have given any thought to grandkids yet! I guess I’m just not there yet. haha. I feel like once the boys are out of the house, I will welcome a phase of just being able to… chill. Like I don’t wish them away yet AT ALL, but I occasionally think how relaxing it will be once it’s just me and Ivan and our evenings won’t revolve around driving people places and just “others’ needs” all the time. Being able to just do whatever I want, when I want, more “peace”, if you will, sounds nice. That said, the idea of the kids being gone from the house also makes me want to sob hysterically, because I will miss them SO much. But once they are gone, I don’t think I will want to be babysitting grandkids for a while! lol. Maybe eventually 😉
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Oh my gosh, the anecdote about the boys playing together is hilarious! I see little toddlers ALL the time and wish that I had a sweet, squishy toddler to play with… but when I really think about when my kid was a toddler, it was kind of a nightmare?!? I was barely getting through the day! The nostalgia is nice but the actual thing was hard work!
I have seen some “welcome” mats that have similar sentiments — which I guess ARE supposed to be funny? I think a person needs a very particular personality to carry that off without seeming mean.
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I have seen some welcome mats that do strike me as funny, but I guess to me this sign just didn’t come across as funny! Like there was no indication that it was a joke, if that makes sense? I feel like sometimes those “gag” items have some indicator that it’s supposed to be funny, like, I don’t know, bright colors or a winky face or just some look to them. This looked like a perfectly serious sign that matched the house that just said to Go Away. lol. Maybe if you knew the people it would fit their quirky personalities or something. (But I don’t know them)
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I feel like another blogger wrote about how they pass a house that has both a welcome sign and a go away sign? That seems even more confusing. I guess I sort of get it? If you haven’t called or texted me to tell me you’re coming over, please don’t come over? That’s a lot for a sign, though!
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I really have enjoyed all the kids’ ages (now 12, 9 6) but my dream of having any superpower would be to be able to have one day each year and visit my past life. It would be so fun to go back and hold that new baby but know it was only 24 hours so soak it up and then back to reality of no babies.
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I see a lot of “no soliciting” signs up when I am out for a walk/run in my hood. I am guessing that Go Away is your neighbor’s equivalent? I do like the solar panel line, except mine would just say Go Away if you are selling anything. I even don’t like the people selling cookies! I don’t want to have the awkwardness of turning them down!
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Oh man the scene you described at the beginning is so my life right now, and Will is almost always the one causing problems/hitting Paul/etc. Toddlers have no impulse control. Today when I woke him up and reminded him it was Paul’s birthday he said ‘I’m going to open one of Paul’s birthday presents’. I was like ‘great, that should go over well.’ Eye roll.
Right now Paul’s age is my favorite. I find the school ages to be so fun! Of course he has challenging moments but he’s generally a joy to have around. We read chapter books together and he can read easier books independently and he will tell me fun facts about penguins or whatever animal he learns about on wild Kratts. I think it will just get better from here. I know bigger problems come with bigger kids but you can also do more fun things with them and have fun conversations! The toddler stage is the hardest stage for me. I don’t love the baby stage but I prefer it to toddlers!
Wow that sign is something else… I do see the no soliciting sign but it’s usually small/tactful. I would like to get a no soliciting sign actually because people often come at dinner time! At least they can’t see through our front door – they could before we changed the door. So we couldn’t exactly pretend we weren’t home…
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I think we all had these signs – in one form or another – at our teenage room doors LOL but yeah, I don’t think I would put a “go away” sign in my front yard now. It can be misinterpreted too easily.
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