I remember one of my clients telling me “enjoy every minute, before you know it he will be grown, and you’ll miss these moments” after stumbling into the gym one morning after countless nights of 2 hours of sleep with my newborn, coffee in hand, and a messy mom bun.
….. silence
Was she CRAZY?!
All I could think about was how tired I was all of the time. I actually walked into the hallway wall the night before on my way to the bathroom because I was so delirious from sleep deprivation.
How could anyone possibly miss those sleepless nights? I didn’t even drink coffee until this cute little baby decided he was going to be a sleep terror. Giving my best smile, I nodded my head and changed the subject.
BUT I WAS PREPARED! (ha!)
In the weeks leading up to my maternity leave, I distinctly remember telling one of my clients that I was just taking 6 weeks off work, and I would be sure to have him on a sleep schedule upon my return. She actually laughed at me. Out loud. I thought to myself – “She clearly doesn’t know all the sleep books I’ve been reading to get this baby sleep trained. I’m gonna show her!” HA! Oh, how naive I was to think I was ready for parenthood.
HE LOOKED SO GROWN UP....
He was just over 3 years old when our youngest was born. Seeing him walk through the door of my hospital room to meet his baby brother for the first time really put into perspective how quickly he was growing. Suddenly all those conversations I had had with veteran moms to “enjoy every moment” rang true. I vowed to be sure to find joy not just in the good moments, but all the moments. I would ditch the idea of trying to do everything perfectly because I realized that there is no such thing as perfection, especially when it comes to motherhood.
So, I decided to relax.
I became ok with the fact that maybe I wasn’t going to be that mom with the kids who started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks (is that really a thing?) or who had it all together … whatever that means. Some days were going to be hard, but those days where everything just seemed to come together beautifully would make up for it. Through an amazing tribe of women who I have met along this journey of motherhood, I learned that it’s ok if I don’t have it all together. We are all figuring it out as we go.
They were right.
As I watch both of my boys grow up before my eyes, I’ve come to understand the saying “the days are long but the years are short.” And now my oldest is registered for Kindergarten. Just like that.
So when they are both yelling “MOM! MOMMMM!! MOMMMYYYY!!!” I take a deep breath. And, I remember they won’t always want me like they do now and they won’t always need me.
So enjoy those moments, mamas. These years really do fly by.
