Growing Pains

My baby is growing. Our littlest. A sweet rambunctious wee thing that years before I never had thought would be part of our lives, seeing that I planned on only having two children. But my heart grew as my family grew and more was never out of the question. And this past weekend? Daddy converted our third little one’s crib into a toddler bed.

I think as our kids grow we revert to that quintessential human trait of resisting change. Of course we rejoice over milestones while we clap and cheer for first steps, first words and good choices. Yet laying there, sometimes dormant and underneath the face shrouded in pride for our littles’ achievements, is this pang that reverberates through a mother’s body with each stride towards their own life and adulthood, a mother’s growing pains. 

This stage, this age, is a tough one. It’s a beautiful one. It’s a trying stage and an exciting age. They days are long, and most nights my eyelids are heavy long before I fall into bed, and yet while I’m excited for him to continue to grow in his skills and independence, there’s also a long road ahead full of the unknown which makes it easy to want to cocoon into his early years and stay there wrapped up tight. I want my kids to develop and flourish, although I’m confident and comfortable in this stage and sometimes wish I could pause right where we are. 

For now though, I’ll just settle for enjoying it, the long days and short nights. I’ll be preserving the moments of their dependent world in photo and video.

And while I’m at it, I’ll go back to the school of Parenthood, where life lessons involve love hard, fast and learning to let go, in so many ways.

XO