I hear from fellow moms often “time slow down” or “oh, they grow up so fast.” It is true, that neither you or your child will be as young as you are at this very second ever again. You will never be this young again (yikes, that’s heavy and deep. Please continue).
I see sad face emojis and posts about your kids having birthdays and milestones and I’m all “why are you sad? You kept a completely dependent and tyrannical human being alive to reach said birthday/milestone. You deserve a God Damn Medal!” (If Tiger Woods can get a Medal of Freedom, then every mother in the US should line up at the White House because you and I deserve one way more than that guy.) I honestly don’t get it. Why are you sad that your kid is older or did something awesome? CELEBRATE THAT SHIT!
Being a mom is hard. Why are we adding pressure that we want to keep our kids little or stop them from growing up? Newsflash, friends, time is a constant– it isn’t going to slow down or speed up because your kid made it through his first soccer practice or her first spelling bee. I love first and last day of school photos compared side-by-side. Why? Because you get to see tiny humans slowly turning into tiny people. You get to witness their growth and watch what they’ve become.
Lincoln will be three in August. Am I sad about that? Hell no! Woo hoo! Again, we kept a being who is completely dependent on us for everything but sleep, ALIVE and healthy to boot! I’m not sad, I’m excited to reflect on how far we’ve come. Once a glob of cells who relied on my body to feed it, now a strawberry and chicken nugget destroying monster. His favorite phrase: “more berries please.” Once a tiny baby that I had to carry everywhere, now a toddler who has one speed- run. Once a diaper dirtier 10xs a day, now a big boy who potties by himself and yells “bye bye poop” when he flushes. Once he could only cry-to-communicate, now a tiny human working on communicating with words. He knows his colors, his numbers, his alphabet by site (#mombrag). He loves to play in water and smash cars, give hugs and cuddle.
This May we started preschool and I didn’t cry on his first day (granted, I didn’t drop him off). He loves it. He hugs his friends, he plays with dinos and whales, and gets great interaction with other adults and kids his own age. He hugs me when I pick him up and falls asleep on the seven-minute ride home as he babbles about his day. It is amazing to think of how far he’s come and how far he will go.
I’m proud of him. I’m proud of Mike and I. I’m not sad that he’s growing, I’m excited to continue to watch him flourish and write his story. He will soar and that’s nothing to be sad about.
So to Time I say “cheers.”
