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When the chaos of the day emits a feeling of charge and chase
When there are a million things to do and a thousand places to go
I want to stop and sit
Hold
Wait
Breathe
Watch
Memorize every little bit of who they are
Right now
More often lately I do
An overused catchphrase, the saying 'they grow up so fast'
Though the truth of it often rings too clear and too bright
One day they lie swaddled, fitting perfectly in your arms
Peacefully asleep, your breathing attuned to theirs
Then
Time slips by unnoticed until you wake up one day and they've become too heavy to carry
They want to dress themselves, pour their own milk
Speak in full sentences
It's startling, catching me at a heartrending glance
Making my heart seize and capsize all at once
Like a slip of a breeze through the window of time
Whoosh...
and there it goes
With those infuriating days where you wish for the day to end, for bedtime cannot come fast enough
Then
I watch them at their craft table, sunlight streaming through the window as they sit closely, heads tilted toward one another, their sweet voices chattering
My eldest reading to his little brother by soft lamplight in his room as I get their bath ready
In the tub taking his baby brother's toes gently in his big boy hands and singing "This little piggy went to market..." as my youngest smiles eagerly, chin tucked and turned in anticipation for the tickles
I take a mental snapshot
I don't ever want to forget it
In the reaching for the camera, at times the magical moment is broken
In a world where cameras, phones, technology are constantly at our fingertips we forget to simply embrace our senses
And enjoy
Each sweet moment for what it is
Sometimes it's just the remembering of those cherished times that can bring back the scent, the feeling, the deep heart of it all
Thinking back to some of my favourite childhood memories
There are no pictures for them
Just the sense of being
Content
Loved
Present
6 comments:
All so very true. Lovely post.
This was so lovely. I totally get it!! "They grow up so fast"...they REALLY do!!! Sometimes it catches me off guard, and I get a little weepy that this is true.
The thing is - we do forget the mental snapshots, mostly, the ones we intend to recall. The strange thing is that our memories collect moments, single moments - and present these to us years later and we remember it all, from a feeling, a moment - it's so strange. I totally know what you mean about the passage of time - it's too fast but also to slow all at the same time, and my mother's instinct is to just put a stop to it. (-:
Oops that was from me, Ado, not Seadrift. (-:
Very sweet. I was just asking my 2 year old today to promise not to grow up. And really, thank you for your very sweet words about my writing. It means more than I can tell you.
Sweet and touching post. Beautifully written!
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