Kids growing up and the Passing Birthdays

 

Today was another big birthday milestone for one of my children. 5,844 days of life for our littlest.

It seems impossible, how quickly these years go by. When they were tiny I’d often be stopped by a parent whose kids had long since grown up.

Enjoy these days, they would warn with faraway looks in their eyes. Patting the head of my child while remembering their own.

And I have.

That makes the passing of these birth day celebrations bittersweet.

I can look back with joy and fond remembrances of our years together, mother and child. Father and his girls. Our little family forging our way into the world.

It is precisely because I enjoyed those days that my heart is mixed. There is much to be excited about as our kids grow into their own adult selves, into their own stories.

But I will miss them in my own story.

 

Celebrating each birthday with remembrance

I know, I know.

They’ll still be there in a different and wonderful way. And I will enjoy those times too. But some days, I will remember the days I gave birth and saw my daughters for the very first time.

Touched their downy hair and chubby cheeks, counted their fingers and toes and breathed in deeply of their brand new baby essence.

Kids growing up

I bet that never fades. When I see picture of my own mother when I was a baby, I recognize that look of love.

Parents must forever harbor a secret longing to hold their kids again tight, just for a few minutes.

My mom used to hug me when I was 16 and I’d let go to rush off. She would hold on tight and say, “I’m not done yet.” Now I get it.

Parenthood is the greatest of gifts, and I am thankful. Celebrating not just the growth of these kids, their lives past and present, but the experience of having mothered them in the first place.

Already, when I see moms with young children who are being very naughty, I ask if I can help or smile and reassure them these times will quickly pass.

I now am that messenger that graced my early years, whispering,

Enjoy these days, they really will go so very fast… 

Happy birthday Sweetie, I love you.

Resources to encourage you

• The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother’s Memoir
• The Afternoon of Life: Finding Purpose and Joy in Midlife
• Memory-Making Mom: Building Traditions That Breathe Life Into Your Home
• Not Just A Mom: The Extraordinary Worth of Motherhood & Homemaking 
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