It’s been one of those super long parenting days, the kind that requires multiple cups of coffee. The kind of day where you lock yourself in the bathroom just to get a second alone (We’ve all been there, right?!). Yet, we made it through; it’s finally bedtime!
We’ve had dinner, played in the bath, read stories, sang songs, and gave goodnight kisses; then just as I’m about to walk out the door, I hear my sweet little man’s voice… “Mama, will you rock me?” My 8-month pregnant self is exhausted and would love nothing more than to go take a super hot shower, yet I say, “Yes, I will rock you.”
Not because I have to or feel obligated, but because I want to and am choosing to!
This is not something my little guy asks as often anymore and as every parent knows “the days are long, but the years are short.” I’ve found myself clinging to this phrase even more as we are fast approaching my due date, and I’m reminiscing on the baby days with my now almost 4-year-old. It feels like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital, smelling newborn fresh and relying on us for all of his love and care.
Time can be so cruel, and it certainly doesn’t slow down for anyone.
No matter how hard we may pray and hope for that (which I am totally guilty of!). As parents, we are blessed with the ability to be able to watch our little ones grow right before our eyes, but we also, unfortunately, have to experience first-hand just how fast these seasons pass. While there were most definitely days that I wanted to wish away aspects of each stage – like the newborn sleepless nights, or the toddler “no” phase – I also realized how quickly they passed once we were out of them. And dare I say, I even missed them!
We are in an ever-changing season of witnessing both firsts and lasts, and the worst part about it is… we won’t truly know those ‘lasts’ until they have passed. The last time your baby nurses, your toddler asks to be held, your child comes to you for comfort after being hurt, or your teenager lets you drop them off in front of school.
We don’t know when those days will be, so for me, I’ve learned to hold on a little tighter to these precious moments. This does not mean that I live in a constant state of fear thinking that this may be one of his ‘lasts,’ it just means that I look at each milestone or sweet moment as fleeting, and I choose to enjoy it and soak it in the best that I can!
These moments may be fleeting, but for every ‘last’ there is another ‘first.’ And boy, am I SO grateful for that!
So yes, I will rock you, sweet boy! We’ll rock until you barely fit in my arms, until you stop asking, and I promise to savor every moment like this knowing that one day, this season will come to an end and a new one will begin.
