Hooded Towels and Cozy Toes...

The owner of a restaurant the husband and I frequented...and when I say 'frequented,' I mean 'inhaled meals an average of 5 out of 7 days a week'...once shared a memorable insight: Every Age Is The BEST Age. I've thought of that often. When your kids are tiny, you think that it can't possibly get any better, and then they learn to walk and you think it can't possibly get any better! And then they are potty trained and you shout Hallelujah and know it can't get any better! And then they begin to have conversations with you, and become little ladies and you think...wait! It just doesn't GET any better than this! Every Age Is The BEST Age.
Those around me know that I am a HUGE fan of growing up. I LOVE that my girls are turning into independent young ladies, right before my eyes. Both of my children were in "big kid beds" soon after they turned one. Once they outgrow their clothes, said clothes are passed on to others. I gave away all of their "baby things" as soon as they were finished using them...high chairs, strollers, car seats, etc. I have never had the desire to hang on to those material things. I've applauded each new step...new schools, new milestones of childhood. I'm rarely sentimental about things. (Now, photographs I protect like Fort Knox. I have Baby Books, Scrapbooks, Photo Albums galore...those are among my treasures.)
This struck me as odd the other day as I was gathering up laundry. I picked the kids' towels off the hooks on the back of the bathroom door. Big Hooded Towels. My children are definitely old enough to have left the hooded towels behind. And yet, I can't bear to part with them yet. Following a sudsy bubble bath, I LOVE wrapping up my kiddos in their hooded towels. The Bug's towel has a duck on the hood, and the Pea's towel has puppy dog ears. (Stinkin' adorable!) Nothing like a clean and cuddly kid slipping into some PJ's at the end of a long day.
The only moment that might possibly top the towels, is the snuggly tuck-in moment. I'll crawl into bed with a little one to read a story. And she'll curl up against me, warm and cuddly with her cozy toes touching my knees.
Just doesn't get any better than that...