When I was the mother of a newborn, I thought she would never sleep.
I thought that I would be tired forever, that I was the only mother who hadn’t figured out how to make her baby sleep. Then miraculously one night, she slept for 8 hours. I woke up with fully engorged breasts since I hadn’t fed her during the night, and I was convinced something must be wrong with her. I ran to her crib, and she was calmly just stirring, waking up and starting her day.
Suddenly, that season was done.
That has been a recurring theme in my life as a mother. Just when you think that you know what’s happening, things change.
You’re rolling through life, convinced that your current reality is the way things will always be.
Whether that be due to denial or literally only being able to see one day at a time, as mothers we get caught up in the moment in a detrimental way.
We tend to think that NOW is FOREVER.
I’m not a fan of the “treasure every moment” phrase that mothers hear all the time. Sorry, I’m not going to treasure being puked on, nor will I treasure the guilt and fear that I’m doing something wrong.
My focus needs to be on the season we’re in as a whole. Of course, I will cherish sweet little moments and even the tough ones that we learn from. But sometimes we don’t appreciate a season until we are looking at it in retrospect. And then we look back through those chapters in our motherhood book with nostalgia and sometimes longing for those times past.
But don’t get so lost in those seasons that have come before that you forget to immerse yourself in your current place. Don’t worry too much about “loving every minute.”
Just LIVE every minute.
Really feel it.
Really be present in it.
All of the seasons are so full and robust in their own right.