Recently, I came across a poem while I was scrolling through my phone. The title was the first thing that caught my attention; it was called The Last Time. The caption said, If you’re a Mom, take a few minutes and read this.
I’m a Mom. And Mother’s Day just so happened to be the next day.
So I read it. And by the time I was done reading, the tears were rolling down my cheeks.
Please take a moment to read.
The Last Time
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 feedings 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, then 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 to 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 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.
-Author Unknown
I still get emotional when I read it. No matter what age our children are, there is going to be a last time for many of the things we are lucky we get to do with them right now.
And I realized that I have already experienced some of these last times with both of my kids. They may only be the young ages of 7 and 2, but they are growing so fast.
It’s true what they say; the days are long but the years are short.
After I finished reading this, I emailed it to both my daughter and my son (we set up accounts for them shortly after they were born). I ended the e-mail by saying this, “I have cherished every moment I have spent with you, and I will continue to cherish every moment, even when we reach ‘the last time.’”
Do yourself a favor. Take a step back from the stress, fatigue, and craziness that life brings and especially all that 2020 has brought.
Make more memories. Hold them a little longer. Soak it all in and enjoy every minute you can with your little ones, right now.
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