Learning to Cherish the Small Stuff

Bedtime had settled over our house and with the husband working late I decided not to sit in front of the tube and watch some reality-based nonsense. Instead I ventured outside to listen to the sounds of the night versus the sounds some fifteen minutes of fame wannabe starlet.  Over the hum of the crickets and too many a/c's I realized something.

This second child, only six months old, has taught me an important life lesson.  In just her short time on this planet she has taught me the value of savoring the mundane.  I remember with my first daughter I could not wait for her to reach every milestone.  Each moment was marked and jotted down for posterity in her baby book and on-line photo album.  It was like a fever had possessed me that first year. Reaching the first birthday felt like a race to the finish.  After that I couldn't wait to move on and commemorate her second birthday.  It never ended. It was like some vicious cycle. This second baby though has taught me that each moment, even if it is not marked with a milestone, is one to savor. 

I take daily joy in her laughs and smiles.  It doesn't matter that time is passing even faster or that I sometimes forget to write it all down (despite my mothers harangues), it is that now I have learned (FINALLY!) to enjoy my children more. All two of them.  I can see now why people have more than one child and even go beyond 2.5. Parents perhaps just want to see more of those first steps, babbles, and squeals.  It is such a source of joy how can you not want more of it all? 

When I look at her sweet chubby baby face and kiss those fat little thighs or feel her burrow into my shoulder for a snuggle I cherish it all the more this time around.  I realize now just how fleeting it allis.  One minute they are totally dependent on you for their very existence and the next they are finishing their first year of school.  While I may not remember to write down that today was the first day she tried mixed foods I know for certain I will embrace and remember that sweet baby smell and how it feels to make her laugh.  That for such a short time I am the funniest person she knows and each roll over is a triumph for her. 

Having this second child is much less of a haze than the first child.  I don't feel that I'm running towards a finish line this time around. Instead I am realizing how quickly it passes and that each day I must remember to savor these moments big and small with both children.  Before I know it they'll be asking for the keys to the car and going on college campus tours and not spending days rolling around on the floor with me and their father.  

After that I went back inside and peered in at them both all sound asleep and snug in their beds.  I may not be able to freeze time but I am thankful that at least I have already realized (and now when I'm over the hill with my babies all grown) how precious it all is.  I don't know if I would have clued in to that if I had only one child.    

Original DC Metro Moms post.  Victoria can be found blogging daily on a much less sappier note at her blog, The Mummy Chronicles.