What it always will be

What I have learnt as my motherhood journey has continued.

Hold your babies. They don’t spoil. Or keep. They won’t always be yours to hold on to.

One day before long they will be reaching for the light switches and telling you they can do things on their own.

It happens before you know it, and there’s no warning or going back.

Listen to your intuition before everything else, particularly what everyone else tells you that you “should” be doing with your babies.

You have been there since the beginning. Your heart grew them into who you birthed. And it will continue to lead you through your motherhood and their childhood, if you let it.

Don’t compare your children’s milestones to others. They are different and always will be. Trust they will get to where they need to when they are ready. They have their own timing, just like you.

Take the photo. All of the photos. Of them. Of yourself. Of the moments you may not consider worthy of documenting.

One day you will long to be taken back to that time, but your memory will be foggy. You will need prompts to remind you of what you once lived. Photos will be your pathway to memories that may otherwise get lost.

Go easy on yourself. You are doing the best you can with what you know, and the energy you have, at any given moment.
Your time in each stage is limited. So try not to focus on things that do not matter, like the amount of screen time, convenient meals, and the “it will do today” approach. They will turn out just fine. This becomes more apparent the older your children get and the more you have.

You don’t give yourself enough credit. Society doesn’t either. And while you can’t change society, you can change how you value yourself. Don’t let everything you do feel insignificant. It is making, moulding, and changing lives.

This is still hard.

Even though you know more.
Perhaps it always will be.

But it’s also still beautiful.
So beautiful.
And even if it starts to look different, it always will be.