"Just Wait"

I have hated hearing this phrase since before I was a mom.

If a parent has kids older than your oldest-- you'll hear this phrase.

I have tried so hard not to use it since I became a mom almost 7 years ago.  But, admittedly, I have used other wording that's pretty close.

The thing about "just wait" is it's really for the parent of the older kid than it really is a warning for us.

What "Just Wait" means is..."I miss when my job was as easy as yours is now".  Which isn't even accurate.  Because mostly they are forgetting the hardness of whatever age they are referring to.  My six year old can be SO disrespectful and really test my patience-- this behavior is helping me to fail in all the ways I said I never would when she was a baby--- yelling, giving up, leaving mid-conversation, etc.  She is REALLY smart and knows me and sure does know how to press my buttons.  But as tough as this is... it doesn't mean her newborn days were easier.  (Actually, they really were--but #2 and #3 were tougher-- the point is the age, though).

Why we want to say "Just Wait" so badly is because we want to connect with that person-- and there is a gap.  It's why parents with kids the same age are just able to fall into friendship more easily.  It's like having the same major.  It's just easier to "get" each other.  Of course, there will always be some people in your major who suck, so you whittle the group down more... and you're left with a narrow pocket of people who are on a similar journey.

Next time a parent says "Just Wait" to you... translate it in your head to... "I miss my own kids at that age... I'm having a hard time at this stage."

The problem is-- whatever your current issues are with your kids will always seem tougher than whatever lies ahead or is behind you.  Behind you, they seem easier only because you did it-- you overcame them!  In front of you, you can still do what all of us do and say, "Well... my kids won't be like that."