Ignite | Personal Post for The Bloom Fine Art Photography Group

Today was a day like many:

Sick baby… hyper toddler… lots of laughter… messy hair… wiping runny noses…

I love my children from the depths of my soul, but a day with almost no nap from my sick 7 month old who didn’t want to be put down at all had sucked the energy out of me.  5pm couldn’t come soon enough so I could pass off the parental duty to my husband for just 5 minutes of down time.  After they had left to go pick up dinner and bring it back, I plopped down on Facebook and began to peruse profiles and drink a glass of water in silence.  I came across a post on someone page that I clicked on to read.

 

The title was “The Last Time”  It read:

 

From the moment you hold your baby in your arms,

you will never be the same.

You might long for the person you were before,

When you had freedom and time,

And nothing in particular to worry about.

You will know tiredness like you never knew it before,

And days will run into days that are exactly the same,

Full of feedings and burping,

Nappy changing and crying

Whining and fighting,

Naps or lack of naps.

It might seem like a never-ending Cycle.

 

But don’t forget…

There is a last time for everything.

There will come a time when you will feed your baby for the last time.

They will fall asleep on you after a long day

And it will be the last time you ever hold your sleeping child.

One day you will carry them on your hip and then set them down.

And never pick them up that way again.

You will scrub their hair in the bath one night

and from that day on they will want to bathe alone.

They will hold your hand to cross the road,

Then never reach for it again.

They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles,

and it will be the last night you ever wake to this.

One afternoon you will sing “The wheels on the bus”

and do all the actions,

Then never sing that song again.

They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate.

The next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone.

You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your last dirty face.

They will run to you with arms raised for the very last time.

 

The thing is, you won’t even know it’s the last time

Until there are no more times.

And even then, it will take you a while to realize.

 

So while you are living in these times,

remember there are only so many of them

and when they are gone, you will yearn for just one more day of them

For one last time.

 

I looked at my 4 year old outside the window as she, my husband, and our baby walked up from the pizza place… I realized all the last times we’ve experienced without me even really thinking twice about it.  I put the computer down and greeted them at the door.  She ran to me, arms wide open and squealed “Mommy! I Missed you! I got a candy treat at the pizza store!!”

I smiled and knew my days of open arms aren’t numbered yet… and today I needed to be reminded that these little things aren’t forever.  My 7 month old started cruising today… he normally needs help pulling himself up to stand, but as I was playing in the hallway with the kids this afternoon, I heard noise coming from the bathroom and caught him standing against the tub trying to reach for his rubber ducky… These truly are the days <3

 

Please continue through the circle: Roxanne Bappe | Imaging Rox | Central Iowa Photographer

https://www.imagingrox.com/2014/11/05/ignite-october-2014/