Please may I interrupt your daily scrolling for a brief unfiltered life lesson story??
I received a notification from the app that Sam’s school uses for easy communication. It’s a pic of the agenda for their last week of school, which is next week, by the way. Now, I’d been counting down with both older kids for months but this post stopped me and literally put a lump in my throat. Can we say “postpartum hormones”?! On this agenda was a Senior Walk, which my only-fifth-graders will be attending to cheer the older students on. Immediately my brain told me, “this will be my kids soon enough, taking that walk” and just like that I’m crying. By myself, like an absolute sad sack. I texted Aaron. I texted Sam’s dad. I texted my sister. Seriously, I needed to wallow in this for a hot minute, clearly! MY BABIES AREN’T BABIES ANYMORE!!!! Waaahhhh!!!! Tears are flowing freely by now.
I’m going to digress just for a sec here but it’s relevant, so hang on for the ride:
Tabby is soundly sleeping in her swing during my temporary meltdown and every morning she naps from about 9:30am until around 1:00pm. Also, it’s worth noting that I’ve been desperately trying to get her to laugh since she was three months old. That’s relevant, I promise!
Back to the story at hand. Out of nowhere on this day, just after my tear fest began, which was about an hour after Tabs had fallen asleep, she suddenly woke up. Usually she’s hungry, therefore she awakens cranky, but this time she just woke with a start and began smiling at me. I walked over to her swing and started talking to her, saying something about finishing her nap while attempting to put her pacifier back in her mouth. She smiled more and it made me laugh, so I got silly with her; doing a goofy mom jig and saying funny things in a funny voice. I swear this moment was sent from Heaven above because my child started laughing at me!! It was as such an adorable giggle and it made me work harder to keep her going. What a glorious sound, when a baby laughs…
I was relishing this moment in time and (here’s where things all tie in!) it occurred to me that my older kids are still young enough to enjoy silly moments, too! They’re not off to any Senior Walks just yet. They’re still so young, with plenty of years to go before we release them to the world. The moment I had with my little one completely served as a reminder that, while letting my kiddos go WILL be heart wrenching, there’s time right now to, well, enjoy the RIGHT NOW! One day we will say a kind of goodbye, but this moment… all the moments until then, actually… I’ll soak in exactly as is.
The Reinvented Mom 