Circle of Life

 My girls and Mom many moons ago

Many years ago, a very wise person told me to cherish the days of my young motherhood, for, she said, they will go by in a flash.  Sure enough, here I am four daughters and soon-to-be nine grandchildren later!  Where has the time gone?  

Holding my grandchildren always reminds me of being a young mother.  I loved mothering!  Being a stay at home mom during the 80's and 90's was like swimming up stream.  Women's Lib was raging around me, but I didn't care.  I was so grateful to be home with my girls, to be the parent on the street that everyone could come to, to be the mom who drove everyone to school events and to be the mom who would stop everything to hold a hand, wipe a tear or make a cup of tea.

My own dear Mom once said, "Any child within arm reach is mine until they go."  I had thought her a bit crazy at the time, but after rearing my own girls along with hundreds of others who happened by for a day, a week, a month or even a year, I came to understand.

Life has come full circle - now my girls are mothers, raising little ones who seem to grow too fast.  If only we could hold back time for one more lullaby, one more hug, one more story... 

The Last Time ~~ Author unknown

From the moment you hold your baby in your arms,
you will never be the same.
You might long for the person you were before,
When you had freedom and time,
And nothing in particular to worry about.
You will know tiredness like you never knew it before,
And days will run into days that are exactly the same,
Full of feeding and burping,
Whining and fighting,
Naps, or lack of naps. It might seem like a never-ending cycle.

But don't forget...
There is a last time for everything.
There will come a time when you will feed your baby
for the very last time.
They will fall asleep on you after a long day
And it will be the last time you ever hold your sleeping child.
One day you will carry them on your hip,
then set them down,
And never pick them up that way again.
You will scrub their hair in the bath one night
And from that day on they will want to bathe alone.
They will hold your hand to cross the road,
The never reach for it again.
They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles,
And it will be the last night you ever wake for this.
One afternoon you will sing 'the wheels on the bus'
and do all the actions,
Then you'll never sing that song again.
They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate,
the next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone.
You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your
last dirty face.
They will one day run to you with arms raised,
for the very last time.

The thing is, you won't even know it's the last time
until there are no more times, and even then,
it will take you a while to realize.

So while you are living in these times,
remember there are only so many of them and
when they are gone,
you will yearn for just one more day of them

For one last time.