As I sit in the darkened silence nursing my infant son once more before bedtime, I realize that another day has passed. Another day at his age means growing leaps and bounds, and way too fast for this momma’s heart to handle. In the past few days he’s turned 6 months old, mastered rolling in both directions, started daycare and eaten his first baby food – lots of milestones for a little fella. I watch him and my 3 1/2 year old daughter as we go about our day and sometimes seriously contemplate Googling methods on how to make time stand still.
Why does growing up have to be so tough on us as mommies?? Isn’t that what we want for our children — for them to grow up, get a great education, good job, marry, have children…but why does it all seem to happen at warp speed? It feels like from the moment you discover that you’re expecting a child to their blessed arrivals is a slow climb uphill. Then your baby arrives and you hold them in your arms for the first time, and the next second they’re boarding a school bus to head off to kindergarten (it’s ok, I’m teary eyed too). And if you’re a first time mommy, bad news: time flies even faster with your second child.
While I realized how tough this whole growing up business was with my first child, since having my second child I find myself stopping even more often to just soak in the moment– the snuggles, the stories, the hugs. I know now how fast time passes and that our children are only little for what seems like a split-second. I hold my children in my embrace just a little longer because I know they won’t fit in my arms the same way in just a few months. I watch in amazement as they work so hard to master a new skill and bittersweetly celebrate their success as I know it brings them just a little closer to complete independence.
As I sit misty-eyed typing this, I remind myself that life is filled with constant change and that is certainly the case with parenthood. I realize that our goal as parents is to raise our children into successful adults and celebrate their milestones with them while making plenty of memories along the way to fill our hearts for a lifetime.
I wish I could tell you that I’ve discovered some miraculous way to keep our babies young for just a little longer. But my search has turned up empty so I will carry on in my life as mom, happily watching my children grow and discover
But I’ll be sure to just keep my tissues handy in those bittersweet moments of life…because the tears are inevitable.
