And then they were grown.
I’m pretty sure I will wake up and say that one morning.
It will happen before I know it.
My firstborn started kindergarten on Monday, and today my baby turns 2. Two!
Those years in the trenches of babyhood and toddlerhood to boot?
I knew they were fleeting, and now…
Before I could even catch hold of my breath between pregnancy after pregnancy after pregnancy and birthing and breastfeeding and diaper changes and potty training and first foods and first words and a million sleepless nights…
They were gone.
Oh I know my girls are still little. And, truly, I said I wasn’t even going to shed a tear when my oldest started kindergarten this week.
After all, we had waited an extra year, she is being homeschooled part-time (which affords us more time with her), and she has attended three mornings of preschool for the past two years.
But as I pulled into the parking lot and saw other mamas and daddies holding their video cameras and beaming with pride and tearing up themselves, I couldn’t contain myself.
Because then it hit me: Kindergarten mamas don’t necessarily cry because they will be away from their babies during the school day.
They cry because, to use the old cliche, babies don’t keep.
And these littles ones who makes mountains of messes and color on carpets and stick postage stamps all over their dollhouses–will not be little forever.
It’s just as they said. It all goes so fast. And I can’t make time stand still.
The baby years, the toddler years, the preschool years are over for my firstborn. And her sisters are right behind her.
A chapter has ended.
It’s a new season of motherhood.
Lord, help me embrace it. Savor it. Live fully in each season that comes.
judestucky
I spend as much time with my teenagers. Really! I dropped the budget so I could work part-time and changed shifts to he home the most I can. I homeschool my daughter and am teaching her also canning, freezing corn, meal planning, budgeting. I sacrifice just to afford to be with them. Someone once said. ” the days are long but the years are short”. I love being their mom!!!
Erin
I’m so glad to hear you love the teen years! They scare me a bit!
Claire
I definitely grieve with each passing change. I only have one child, so I feel the passage of time very acutely. I try to spend as much time with my son as possible, but I have definitely failed in my efforts to make time stand still!
Erin
I think we all do, Claire! I think we just have to pick up where we are and try to savor the moments!
Kim
I definitely grieve after each stage bc the time is passing SO quickly! My oldest 2 will start K next year and it will be very hard on this mommy!!! Seems like just yesterday I held my twin babies for the first time! However, I am excited to see the wonderful plans God has for all my children’s lives! I have 3 boys and some days seem long & messy! Yet I wouldn’t change a second of my baby’s sticky little kisses or my sweet big boys giant hugs! I love motherhood! I’m a stay at home mom and absolutely love it!!! Thanks for this post! Babies definitely don’t keep! 🙁
Erin
It’s is crazy how fast time flies! My sister has twins as well, btw!
Melissa Wilson
Hugs to you momma! My oldest turns 13 today. “Bittersweet” doesn’t even begin to describe how it feels to me. It went too fast.
Erin
Oh I know I will cry when they become teenagers!
Stephanie S
My oldest starts Kindergarten next week and my youngest will be 3 in just a month and a half. I know I will shed some tears on the first day of school because it signifies a new beginning phase of her life and and an ending to another.
Erin
I was the same!
kc
My son is starting prek-4 next month and I keep reminding myself to embrace him and our beautiful mess this next 12 months as much as possible! Thanks for the post and reminder. 🙂
Erin
Those last 12 months before K go so quickly!!
Godly Indian Mom
I can understand,It really overwhelms us as we step into a new phase of motherhood.Praying for you and Congratulations :).
http://www.godlyindianmom.com/
https://www.facebook.com/godlyindianmom
Jessica
My oldest is in 4th, my middle child is in 1st & my baby just started Pre-k, which is a full day program. He cried (for 10 mins) & I cried for an hour. I’m sitting here, at home, soaking in the quiet. I’ve been a stay at home mom for 10 yrs, minus 18 months that I worked part time, after my oldest turned 2. I keep hearing how I can “get a job” now, but I’ve decided to be content where I am right now. The extra money from a job would be nice, but it wouldn’t allow me to go on field trips with my kid’s classes, volunteer at their schools, eat lunch with them on occasion & be home when they get off the bus. With a snack waiting, supper prepared, laundry done & time & energy to talk about their day, help with homework & sit down, as a family, for supper. This is definitely a new season & I’m going to make the best of it.
Claire
I feel the same way, Jessica. I have worked part-time since my son was 18 months old, and the whole time people have assumed that I would go back to work fulltime once he was in school fulltime. But I want to be available to volunteer in the classroom, and I want to be here when he gets home from school. Not to mention all the stress I see my coworkers go through when they have to scramble to make childcare arrangements for sick days, holidays, school vacations and after school. I give a lot of credit to mothers who are able to make that work, but I don’t think I have it in me to be able to rise above those stressors.
stacey
Oh Mamas how right you are!!! Savor it all!!! Seventeen years ago I had a newborn, a 20 month old and a three year old. One has gotten married this summer…….and then there were two.She’s not far away ,just across town but she’s not here.Hence begins a new chapter and a new normal.The house will keep,the cleaning will always be there but they are children for a very short time.Enjoy your babies ,God Bless
Christine
My oldest is almost 14. My baby turned 12 yesterday. I wish someone had encouraged me to homeschool them from the beginning. I did not. Pulled them out 2 years ago and now, even at their ages, I feel like family time is maximized.
Crystal Green
With each new school year I feel like I’m entering into a new season of motherhood because we’re taking on new challenges together and my son is a year older, and I know in a few short months my other two are a year older then too. I am like you and desperately trying to hang onto these years with fond memories.
Angela
I completely understand what you’re going through. Last year I dropped “my baby” off at nursery school a few weeks after she just turned three. I asked her if she was okay and she pointed at the little boy next to her locker while she nodded and said “see mom, I have a friend” and then took off running to her classroom. I lost it (outside). I also lost it when my oldest started Brownies (like Girl Scouts), and my middle had her first day of pre-school all within three weeks. It was a roller coaster transition but I actually came to enjoy the next “new stage.” This of course after a few weeks of my aching heart letting go of the parenting season of the past. My husband and I have consciously made a decision to enjoy every stage. While it does take time for your heart to transition, there are precious “gems” to discover and experience in each of your daughters with each new stage. Their needs will not go away, but simply change with time. Bless you, we enjoy three little girls as well.
Lisa
I’ve been so mindful of how fast it goes by recently. My third baby is now 7 months old, and while that is still very little, I just think about how her newborn and little baby months just flew by in the blink of an eye! I’m trying to slow her down but it’s not working!
Kristy @ Little Natural Cottage
Erin, my oldest daughter is ten years old, and speeding toward her eleventh birthday at the end of this year. “Grieving” would better describe how I feel about these fleeting seasons of motherhood!
My “baby” (the fifth child) is already 16 months old, and all I can do is sit back and wonder (WONDER) where does the time really go?
As a new mom, other (older) mothers always “warned” me how quickly my babies would grow up, but I really didn’t believe them (all I could think about was keeping my house clean and getting a little sleep at night!). Well, I believe them now! And I find myself grasping to cherish and enjoy these fleeting days… such a balance we mamas have to find in keeping it all together and slowing down long enough to soak it all in. xoxoxo
Erin
I can’t believe she is 10! It hit me today that my older two–only 6 and 4 in Oct.–are closer to age 18 than I am! That blew me away! I am praying the Lord will help me cherish these days!!
Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home
Kristy, I know how you feel! Our oldest turns 10 in a couple months and now our youngest is 2 1/2 and I’m just in shock at how fast it has happened! We’re practically out of the diaper stage and moving into pre-teens. I can’t quite even grasp it, and just like you, I’m trying so hard to just soak it up while I can! 🙂
Michele
In the blink of an eye my daughters turned 22 and 19. Our oldest is graduating college and getting married our youngest a junior in college. We are in the season of not making enough food to feed four each night and learning how to be us more often than we are mom and dad. I am very blessed and I still get to spend time with little ones, I am a preschool teacher.
Erin
I cannot imagine. I want mine to stay little for as long as possible!
Sarah @ the frugal millionaire
Awww this post made me tear up!! My daughters are 3 and 2, and already I want to hold onto these years forever. Lately, I haven’t minded any part of this motherhood journey. I’m still in the trenches, but I love it so much. My 3-year-old had her first little performance at her preschool this week and that just reassured how quickly they grow up.
To all the mamas of littles out there – enjoy it!!!! It really is the best!!
Stacey Hegarty
A new season is here for me too. I have 5 children and 4 of them are teenagers. I do miss the baby years, they were hard but good years. I miss the smell of clean diapers the most. Notice the clean part. Lol I am afraid of the next season of motherhood, when they leave home. Sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe when I realize how close that is. But a new season will come and bring its blessings also.