children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow...

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

One of the blessings of our FPIES, is that we have had to slow down.  We weren't a family that was always on the go anyway (yet), we certainly enjoyed our time to just "be" and already had beliefs that this is a good quality to teach children in this fast-paced world.  But even more so, over the past 2yrs., we have slowed down our pace- for Little Man's chronic illness.  We don't go to too many functions with food, we stay close to home because of Little man's eating schedule and specific needs, we don't go out to eat.   Are all of these things necessary?  Depends on whose standards you use.  We have our families standards and by those, they are not.  We, of course, still look for ways to involve the older boys in extra activities outside of school, and of course feel guilty that we can't do more- that keeping up with the Joneses' feeling sets in from time to time.  And I blame FPIES.....

And then in the next minute, I thank FPIES as my almost 11yr.old, and 9yr.old play with Lego's, drawing in their 4yr.old brother - absorbed in creating and imagination.  Or when they are all playing together, with Little Man,in their playroom- be it blocks, trains, a zoo or a fort.....kids being kids.  Keeping the outside stresses down, and maintaining safety at home has been much more thriving environment for our kids to grow in over the past 2 years.  An environment that we maintained while our older boys were younger but that we were quickly losing track of as they grew.    And I thank FPIES.

I have a 27mo.old on a bottle and an infants schedule, whom I have never left outside of family's care for 27mo.; and I blame FPIES. 

I have a 27mo.old who still loves to be rocked while he takes his bottle, and cuddle into sleep, and cover me with hugs and kisses; and I thank FPIES.

At the end of the day, I thank FPIES because as we all know, children grow up.....