Don’t Miss It!
Note: I wrote this article ten years ago. And yes, I had forgotten these things again. Parents, this is exactly why we need to write our stories down! . . .
Recently my children pulled out their memory books to show to a friend of ours. These are journals that I have used for writing down some of the cute and funny things my kids said and did when they were babies and toddlers. As we skimmed the pages, I was surprised at how many things I had already forgotten. My children are very young, so I guess I expected to still be able to recall all of those moments.
As all mothers probably would, I read the entries with mixed emotions. Happiness, because of all the wonderful memories. Sadness, because my babies aren’t babies anymore. But mostly I was just glad that I had written these things down for all of us to enjoy. My children love reading about themselves and about each other. I think they treasure the stories just as much as I do!
Some of my favorites–
- When I took a shower, I would often see two-year-old Callie’s little hand come around the curtain and drop the Little People floaty boat and all of its accessories into the tub for me to play with. She wouldn’t even say anything when she did it!
- After Callie (4) tattled on Caleb (2), Caleb came to me with his head hung low and said, “I spitting again.”
- When Callie (5) first held her new baby doll, I said, “She feels like a real baby, doesn’t she?” To which Callie replied, “Yeah. It’s hard trying to feel like a real mommy.”
- During a visit to the doctor’s office, a nurse asked Caleb (3) if he drank alcohol. Caleb’s response: “No. Chocolate milk.” (I regret that I do not at all remember the context of this conversation!)
- When Katie took her first steps, she was wearing fake glasses and a moustache!
Of course, I wasn’t as faithful about writing down all the cute stories as more babies were born and life just got busier. (As a second-born myself, this makes me angry. But I can’t deny now why it happens.) Thankfully, writing this “Growth Spurts” column forces me to document my children’s lives at least once a month, and it encourages me to slow down and reflect on my family. That’s a good thing, since I so easily get caught up in my tasks for the day. Not that tasks are bad; they just often distract me from the little faces in front of me–the faces that will soon be quite grown up.
I don’t want to miss this time with them. I’m ten and a half years into motherhood already, and it’s flown. So even if I don’t take the time to write down all these memories, I at least want to make sure I don’t miss out on the making of them.
Pictured: Young Caleb, Callie, and Katie Partridge, after Dad told them to pretend they were riding a roller coaster! The photo never ceases to make me smile.
