I think I’ve started, stopped, and restarted this post several times over the past year. It seemed like such a simple one to write, but I’m now glad that I never finished it because I now have a new perspective to add to it.
When my son was born, it seemed like the most popular piece of advice I was given was to enjoy every moment of him being a newborn because it goes by so quickly. While I completely understand the sentiment behind that advice as I’ve found myself almost giving new moms that same piece of advice, for me, it was not the best advice I could be given. Personally, I would have much preferred to have been told to enjoy each stage of my child’s life.
The newborn days flew by and they were precious. One of the things I remember most about those early days was already mourning my son leaving them before they were over. I would look at Wylder and start crying because he wasn’t going to stay that little forever. There were also times that I would be trying to get stuff done and the advice to soak up every moment would start ringing in my head and I would all of a sudden start feeling guilty that all of my attention wasn’t on Wylder. I know that when the advice was given, they didn’t mean, “Do nothing except hold and stare at your son,” but in my postpartum hormonal phase, that’s what I took it as. I was so worried that I would miss something. As I watched Wylder grow out of the newborn stage, I found joy watching him in his next stage. My favorite thing to do is to watch him explore, discover, and learn. And as he grew and learned, I had to learn not to mourn for the days behind us, but to find joy in each stage of his life.
One stage that I am excited about, but also a little nervous for, is the big brother stage. This fall, we will be adding another little one to our family and my sweet boy will no longer be my only child. I’ve been wanting a second child, but there have been moments that I realize that that means it will no longer be just Wylder & Mommy. I absolutely love being able to cuddle with him whenever he wants and focusing my attention on him constantly. Instead of being sad that these days of it being just us are coming to an end, I am enjoying every second we have and look forward to the next stage of our family’s life.
If you’re like me and mourned your child growing up, know that you aren’t alone and that once you learn to find joy in your child growing up instead of sorrow, you’ll be able to not only enjoy every moment, but look forward to what God has in store for your child’s life.
