Let’s talk about
milestones.
Watching your child grow and explore their environment has always had such a hold on me. I can’t help but feel such a disconnection between the child I was once pregnant with and the child I’m now watching run, talk, and grow. The milestones of pregnancy are amazing,too. One month they’re the size of a peanut and before you know it, you can’t tie your own shoes.
But that’s different.
You don’t get to see the amazing growth happen right in front of you. I often sit on our couch and watch Della play with toys. She will sit there and study the doll, turning her around in her hands over and over. Then realize that there is an odd part of the doll’s shirt where the pieces of fabric are fastened together. She pull and tug on that odd contraption until she wiggles it just right that the shirt comes undone. Now I can tell by the look on her face that she is interested.
What does this do?
Why is this like this?
I continue to watch her as she learns the process of undressing and dressing dolls without saying a word. And without help! I am literally Della’s best cheerleader…
I fell into this amazed and wondrous state after every. single. milestone. Sometimes that happened every day, which is why motherhood is single-handedly the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever experienced.
And I never want to take that for granted.
So, yeah, sometimes I sit and watch my child play in admiration. Life is happening all around us. It’s easy to not pay attention to. We fall into spells where life feels so mundane and routine that we forget that everything is changing. All around us! In our children, in our homes, in our communities… I’d make the argument that nothing is the same.
But this is just something I constantly feel because the power of motherhood hits me so strongly sometimes. Yesterday I took Della’s crib out of her bedroom and now in it’s place is a toddler bed. I know some won’t understand my emotions about getting a new bed, and I also know that some can feel a tinge in their heart because they know exactly where I’m going with this. I had to let go of that bed. Once your child is past a milestone, all you have left is the memory of the excitement you felt while celebrating those moments. Making the transition from crib to toddler bed is no small task for a mother consumed in parenthood. Della has been in that crib since she was six months old. Now she is nearly two. I’ve said farewell to the tiny child Della was not so long ago, and I am now welcoming the new, more experienced Della that is to come. Letting go is hard. Celebrating milestones are fun. Every day is different if you pay close enough attention.
Nothing is the same.
That’s why we should enjoy every second we can as it’s happening.
You never know the true, raw power of motherhood until it reaches you so deeply it awakens your soul.
There is nothing else in this world that can give you that kind of power.
Between the Lens 