Cherishing the small moments with Gymboree

In some ways, parenting is exactly the way I thought it would be, but in some ways I can’t believe how different it is than I imagined. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the never-ending to-do lists and the days that fly by, and sometimes I look at my kids and wonder how on Earth I have a five year old and a three year old. Nothing could have prepared me for how quickly my babies would grow into full-fledged kids and how much I would reminisce about days gone by.

Like these days when our sweet "big sister" wasn't so big at all and their sibling shirts from Gymboree were part of some of our favorite outfits.
For me, it’s all about cherishing the small moments with the kids and truly enjoying each age and stage. When I think of my own childhood, it’s not the day to day that I focus on, it’s those small moments that made me so happy – being pushed on a swing until I belly laughed, playing in the woods on hot afternoons, building tree forts with elaborate trap doors and ladders, skating all day long in our carport, and my toes in the sand as the ocean covered me with a salty spray. It’s my job as a parent to fill my children’s childhoods with as many of these small moments as I can. No one ever remembers the 15th time they watched a movie, but you really can’t forget a day that we pitched a tent in the backyard and created our own campground, or the day we spent jumping in puddles without worrying about getting wet…. just because. May their memories always be filled with days like this, spent holding hands and playing make believe. However, it doesn’t always have to be about lots of planning and organizing, maybe it’s a quick park trip on the way to the store or it’s making sure I plan as many playdates as I can handle, or maybe it’s just making time to stop, unplug, and snuggle every single day. It’s these small moments that they will remember. Like the day we realized that her adorable Yellow and Black dress from Gymboree coordinated with a shirt I already had so we added matching necklaces and had a matching girls day.

She may not remember everything about the day, but I hope she always remembers blowing bubbles until we laughed ourselves silly and all the strangers who stopped us and commented on how beautiful it was to see a mother and daughter dressed alike.  My hopes for these little kids can't even be contained in a single post, but my #1 hope is that they are happy. Happy with themselves, happy together, and happy with the world that they create around them.
If you haven't checked out Gymboree's new spring line of clothing, I would definitely recommend stopping into a store. With bold Yellow and Black for girls and a fun new Beach Buddies line for boys (seen below on our recent Disney vacation), it's easy to find everything you need for capturing some of these small moments this spring and summer. 

A big thank you to Gymboree for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions remain 100% ours.