Motherhood: Long Days, Short Years
Tonight is a monumental event in our house. We have taken down the crib, and everyone is now in a “big kid” bed for the first time. They have been eager to make this move, and my nearly two year old sped up the process by climbing out of the crib. This is an exciting moment for the children, but a sad one for Mommy. Besides the fact that switching sleeping arrangements tends to undo all of our hard work to make bed time go smoothly, now I don’t have a baby in my house. No more swaddling, rocking, and soothing. No one completely adores me just for being me. This is a particularly difficult change for me.
I am watching my babies grow up so fast. Someone told me that motherhood is full of long days and short years. This statement didn’t make sense to me when I was on the cusp of motherhood with a baby growing inside of me, but now that I am on the front lines of motherhood, I find that it is so very true. Things change at lightning speed with children, yet they need constant repetition to learn those important lessons. The mundane things that are so much a part of mothering seem to overwhelm us and prevent us from taking a step back to see the whole picture. We often keep our noses to the grind stone and forget to look up to see what is happening right now.
Then there are moments that make us take notice, like tonight. My little one was nervous about sleeping in a toddler bed, so my four year old said, “Just remember that I am always here. (They share a room.) Mommy is always here. Daddy is always here. And remember this…God is always with you. All you have to do is pray. You are safe and sound.” My heart just melted! Yes, all of that repetition, all of the hard work, all of that prayer is paying off! Someone - my dear God - is listening to me. “Thank you, God, for the encouragement! Tonight I desperately needed it.”
My kids have finally settled down to sleep after much fuss about the new sleeping situation. (It took both of us to settle them down and figure out that the little one only needed a new diaper and not comfort. Go figure!) Now I am going to take a deep breath, take a sip of my cup of memories, and enjoy the fact that my babies are growing up in amazing ways. I will always have the memories of my babies, but now they are blossoming into people who love each other and, most of all, who love God. How incredible is that!
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