Rainbow Plasticware and Seasons of Life
I wrote the following about 8 years ago… I thought it was worth sharing and I’ve added a little update at the end…
~My rainbow dishes… child sized, matching but not, mostly indestructible but also easy to misplace in the hands of a toddler, perfect for on the go, on the couch or in the car but also not a lid in sight so they are very much a spill risk… it’s a love/hate relationship.
My husband and I have four kids. The oldest, our son, was born in 2005, following him were our three daughters born in 2009, 2011 and 2015. I have dishes and laundry around every corner waiting to be done on a daily basis. I really should buy stock in all forms of soap...
On one of my many kitchen clean-ups throughout the day I was unloading the dishwasher. Our dishwasher is full to the brim every load. Cups, bowls, silverware, plates all neatly in their rows on the bottom rack. But then, scattered throughout the top rack are the molded plastic rainbow of snack bowls, miniature cups, divided lunch plates and sippy cups for our littlest.
Most of the time I quickly and haphazardly toss the rainbow dishes into stacks and balance them rather wobbly in the cabinet. Of course I shut the door as quickly as possible to claim ignorance if my shaky stacks of dishes fall. Sometimes I hear them crash against the shelf and lie in wait for the next poor soul to need a dish.
Most of the time I roll my eyes at the disorganization of the rainbow dishes and how they don’t quite fit into the proper slots on the dishwasher rack and sigh with a shaking head as they are put away. On this day, however, I paused… I looked at the small array of dishes that perfectly fit their little hands or hold the perfect amount for a toddler tummy and it made me gasp a little, like the wind had gotten knocked out of me.
I clutched one particular bowl that all four of the children had eaten out of. The teddy bear faces printed in the plastic are all but worn off and the edges have a few rough spots from being tossed off a highchair to the floor or accidentally kicked across the driveway on a picnic snack adventure. My eyes welled up with tears as I realized my time with these rainbow dishes is fleeting.
My oldest already opts for the larger, more adult place settings. His time with the rainbow dishes is almost over… an occasional after school snack is the only time I see him carrying one of these bowls with him now. Off to do homework and munch along as he completes his work.
The girls still use them regularly but soon our second born will follow suit. Before I know it the youngest two will do the same. My need for rainbow dishes will slowly fade out just as their childhood years will. They will transition from dependent little people, waiting and wanting what I can give them in their little cups and bowls to independant big people.
One day my rainbow dishes will no longer be needed. And the lie we tell ourselves is that like the rainbow dishes sitting on the Goodwill shelf we as parents will have to find a seat next to them.
The truth is I know my children will always need their parents but their needs will change.
Just as the dishes they eat out of will grow larger and have a more mature feel to them, so will their relationships with us. They won’t always need me to cook and feed them all their meals, lay out their clothes, remind them how to properly brush their teeth and check to make sure they have all their items necessary for the day before they venture out. I won’t be belting them into shopping carts or swatting their little hands down from the candy at the checkout aisles.
It won’t be the same as it is now a few years into the future. Maybe as little as a few months for my oldest. I look forward to the change but also mourn it. I love being the mother to little ones. But I also love the new relationship that is developing with my son. I enjoy hearing his thoughts and opinions on things I didn’t even know he had opinions about… He has opinions on everything. :) I know it will serve him well in the future. He is my friend on a new level and it is a joy.
So, on this day and all the rest of the days that I unload the dishwasher with all their rainbow dishes I will cherish them. I won’t roll my eyes or sigh and shake my head.
I will carefully treasure their worn snack bowls and sippy cups and divided plates. They represent a good many years I have spent lovingly preparing for them and preparing them to be big independant people.
Now, I offer a quick and quiet prayer for each of them as I put their rainbow dishes away and smile as I have the privilege to go through this stage of life with them.
Currently my littlest is starting to howl at me from the gated doorway… It must be time for a little snack from one of our rainbow dishes. She’ll choose pink. She always chooses pink. When her snack is done the bowl will be put into the dishwasher and then unloaded into the cabinets where I’ll remember to say a little prayer for her and her and her brother and sisters.
I love my rainbow dishes!~
Eight years later a few rainbow dishes are still hanging around. In fact there has been a request from my oldest that we find a new set of plates, bowls and cups and have them back in the house which was all echoed by his three sisters. He is usually the first to grab one of only a couple tiny juice cups or throw some chips in a bowl from the rainbow variety we apparently have all grown to love, not only for the functionality but also the memories they carry too.
The relationships have changed between my kids and myself but also between each other. My kids are my best friends and they seem to be each other’s best friends too.
My oldest has just stepped into adulthood, graduated highschool and is now a Certified Personal Trainer. He works and just bought a motorcycle. He is enjoying the perks of adulthood while still kicking it at home.
My oldest daughter is in highschool currently; an academic star, a hurdler on the track team, artist and looking forward to a driver’s permit in her near future.
Our next babe is rounding out middle school, another academic star, she sings and loves plays and theater. She’s also looking forward to her sister learning to drive and getting her license. The two of them are thick as thieves. She and her older sister share the upstairs bedrooms and bath and every night you can hear them going back and forth between rooms giggling and scheming.
Then our littlest is coming close to the end of her elementary school days. It doesn’t seem possible. She was just a tiny bundle in my arms that we all just stood around in awe over. She excels at school work also. She is in gymnastics and just newly on the competitive team. She is in the stage of childhood where she worries about growing up, saying she’ll always stay with us at home. She doesn’t like thinking about entering the next grade but is excited for the opportunities it brings. So we’re working on embracing it as a whole.
We talk about change with each other a lot. How things used to be versus how things are now. We talk about our favorite memories from all the schools they’ve been to. We talk about what it was really like for me, for them, for their dad and how we’ve always been a close knit group and even when we struggled we made the very best of every minute.
In fact as I write this, the three oldest kids are at the gym working out together. They’ll probably stop and have something to drink on the way back and when they walk in the house their little faces will still be pink from working out but also from laughing with each other in the car.
It’s hard to believe that 8 years have passed, my children are literally growing up before my eyes and yet they will always be my babies. The seasons we are in, in life, are rarely appreciated in the moment and yet I urge you to slow down, stop looking forward and looking back and just look around. Where you are is important. Where you are might only last a few months or you might be here for 18 years or more, get acquainted. Whatever it is, it’s worth experiencing to the fullest and getting the most out of every moment because when the season changes, it changes. It’s gone and what’s left are the memories, the feelings and around here we still have the rainbow dishes wobbling in the cabinet… for at least a little while longer.
