Warning: A Blubbering, Sniveling Mommy Wrote This.

You can go online these days and "Google" Dumbest/Ridiculous/Obvious Warning Labels and get several websites with lists of the most ridiculous warning labels ever to exist.  A few of my favorites are...

• "Do not use if you cannot see clearly to read the information in the information booklet." -- In the information booklet.
• "Caution: The contents of this bottle should not be fed to fish." -- On a bottle of shampoo for dogs.
• "For external use only!" -- On a curling iron.
• "Warning: This product can burn eyes." -- On a curling iron.
• "Do not use in shower." -- On a hair dryer.
• "Do not use while sleeping." -- On a hair dryer.
• "Do not use while sleeping or unconscious." -- On a hand-held massaging device.
• "Do not place this product into any electronic equipment." -- On the case of a chocolate CD in a gift basket.
• "Recycled flush water unsafe for drinking." -- On a toilet at a public sports facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• "Shin pads cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover." -- On a pair of shin guards made for bicyclists.

 The list goes on and on.  I often wonder if we need warning labels that are this obvious to a user for simple things like shin guards or hair dryers, then our children should have come with some really great ones like...

• Warning: This child creates spontaneous mucus. 
• Do not feed this child chocolate at bedtime.
• Clean floors are no longer necessary.
• Caution: In 8 - 10 months prior to birth you will no longer have decor below 4 feet in your house.
• Don't buy Legos for this child unless you are okay with stepping on them.

 Last night I wished that someone had put a label on my babies that said something like...

• Let this child fall asleep on you more often.
• Touch this babies skin every chance you get.
• Pay attention to the details, notice how round and soft this child is.
• Hug this child daily and kiss this child often.
• It is okay to hold this child when he cries, he loves you.
• Stop what you are doing and go play with this boy.
• Sewing that handbag is not more important that another PB&J sandwich.

Last night my sweet baby boy, my last baby, climbed up on me while I was watching TV and fell asleep in seconds.  I held him and studied his sweet face.  He still looks like a toddler to me.  His soft, squishy body and delicate skin are almost to much for me to take sometimes.  The lines of his face have changed.  The fat creases in his legs and arms have disappeared.   His hands still have dimples.  Slowly, my baby boy is changing into a big boy.  He'll be starting Kindergarten soon and I don't want him to go yet.  He'll be the "baby" in the class with a June birthday.  I love to hear him talk, he still says some things like a toddler but uses long sentences to describe his world.

My middle child, Evan, is going to be seven before I know it.  He's a builder, he is lean and full of energy.  He loves to snuggle with me and for me to scratch his back.  Pretty soon, this boy whom I can still pick up and carry to bed will be too big for me to lift.  It happens so fast.  He is so close to his baby brother.  They should have been twins.  He is older and one year ahead of Jake in school but he has loved Kindergarten.  I feel at times, I didn't get to experience his "babyhood" as much as I had wished.  His baby brother came along so soon after him.  We wanted Evan soon after having his older brother but God had other plans and made us wait for almost 3 years.  Then, it seemed like while he was still a baby, I was having another baby.  I wish I could go back and pay more attention.

My oldest has always been an old man in a little boys body.  He was such a tiny thing for so long, he spoke like an adult and understood the world in a different way from the beginning.  As an infant he would look at you like he had something important to tell you, it was your fault you didn't know what he was saying.  So, before he was a year old he could tell you.  Now, he's on the verge of turning into a teenager.  He is so much like his Dad, who at the age of 14 was 5,10' and 180 pounds.  My husband had the broadest shoulders you'd ever seen on a teenager.  Cooper is quickly heading towards this adult sized body.  My sweet boy!  He has the biggest heart of any child I know.  He thinks about others, wants to please his family and friends.  He wants to help and love on everyone.  He begs to go shooting his BB gun and go to the park.  Before my eyes he is becoming the "old" man I always knew he was.  That means, he needs a warning label to remind me to protect him.  This world is not going to be good to him.  He's sweet, gullible and ready to take on the world.

So, as I reflect on my babies it is clear that I need to do a few things more often like tuck them into bed with a story and a prayer followed by a little caressing and soft words.  For my oldest baby he probably would simple prefer I hug him and tell him I love him more often and let him be.  My heart is torn when I realize what I have missed, what I haven't savored, and it always will.

The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.
~ Numbers 6:24-26 from NKJV