One day there won’t be anymore smudges on my windows. I won’t trip over toys in the hallway. Or in the shower. Everything will be in perfect order.
I know this because when I go visit my parents house, it’s clean. Freshly vacuumed, and furniture polished. Everything is as it should be.
And I think, “Someday, my house will be clean.”
But you know what? In that day, I’m going to miss this. I’m going to miss them. Being little.
I will look out my unsmudged windows and cry for the fingerprints that once marked them. For the little girl who once stared out of them and dreamed.
For the baby boy who held me hostage to the couch, because he wanted to nurse 23 hours out of the day, and whose big blue eyes would lock with mine while he did, and nearly take my breath away.
And I will ache for a day…exactly like today. All messy and undone.
Someday I won’t wake to crying in the night. I will have eight hours of glorious, undisturbed sleep, every night. (If I want it.)
But, I won’t want it then. I’ll somehow want this.
I’ll want the nights back when the baby woke me up with his cries, and my daughter crawled in between the safety of our warm bodies to forget her nightmares. And remember her dreams.
Someday I will have time. Time to write. Time to shop. Time to do whatever I want. Too much time. I won’t have a baby boy nursing at my breast, or a toddler trying to hug (and kiss) that baby boy while he is nursing at my breast, because, “He’s so cute, Mom,” she says over and over again. And we won’t be piled on top of each other, into that one spot on the couch. (Because everyone knows when you love someone, you should sit on top of them.)
Someday I will cook dinner in peace. I won’t be tripping over my 4-year-old who steps exactly where I step, right before I step there. And I won’t have a baby boy strapped to my chest while I try to do the dishes and bounce him to sleep at the same time.
Someday…they won’t be strapped to my chest. They’ll just be strapped to my heart. I will wash the dishes and stare out the window, hating how quiet it is. Hating how easy it is. Hating how clean it is.
And all I will have are these memories.
Of us all piled together. Of me not having an inch of personal space. Of not getting a chance to shower, and instead getting showered in spit-up, and high-arcing pee during diaper changes.
And I will miss it. I will miss them–just like this.
I will miss them being little.
And I don’t know why my daughter pretends she’s a mermaid named Elsa in the bathtub, or why she drenches the floor with her splash-kicks–except that, she’s little. And this is her world right now.
And I don’t know why my baby boy wants me all the time, or why he screams when I put him in his car seat, or why he wakes up the moment anything remotely romantic happens between me and his dad. But he does. And he’s little. And this is our world right now.
And I’m going to miss it.
The other day my husband popped in for lunch. I was not expecting him, and the house was a disaster. Clothes were in heaps in the living room, the kitchen wasn’t tidied. My hair was in a giant messy bun, and I had no make-up on. My son was asleep in my arms (in our usual spot on the couch), and my daughter was laying on the floor looking at her books.
“Hi,” I said, with a smile.
I knew what it probably looked like. I knew it looked like I accomplished nothing. I knew it looked like I didn’t care. And…I was about to apologize to him. I was about to say, “I’m sorry…” For the house. For my hair.
But before the words came out, I noticed something.
Smudges on the windows.
Smudges because she had been standing there hoping he would come. Watching for his car. And it hit me like a ton of bricks: someday we won’t have smudges on the windows.
And in that moment, there was just something about the way her blonde hair fell into her face as she lay on the floor and looked at her books. And there was something about the way my son was laying, so comfortably in my arms, like he had melted into me–and suddenly the words, “I’m sorry,” didn’t seem to make sense any more.
And instead I said, “I have a beautiful, beautiful life.”
And I meant it.
Tears formed in my eyes. Because just for a second, I saw it. It was just a glimpse, but I saw it. The beauty of right now.
Right now.
I have a beautiful, beautiful life.
And I’m writing this, so I remember.
And I’m writing this, so you remember. And so you don’t forget. Wherever you’re at today. Whatever you accomplished. Or didn’t accomplish. However clean or messy your house is, don’t let Satan steal this one glorious truth from you:
I have a beautiful, beautiful life.
Right now.
Today.
And these days often feel long.
But someday, they will feel short.
So very short, the time that our kids were little.
And we will all long for it back. This time. With them.
It’s like a breeze. Like the wind.
You can’t take a picture of the wind. You can’t keep it. You can’t capture it. And you can’t take it with you.
You can only feel it while it is blowing.
And it’s blowing now.
So turn towards it, and let it blow. Turn towards it and just…feel it. Let your hair fly and get tangled in it. Because someday, there won’t be any more smudges on the windows. And you’ll long just to feel it again, this wind,
their breath on your skin.
It’s blowing now.
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Ann F. Newton says
You are so right! I was where you are today….now I’m 74! I wouldn’t have missed those days for anything in this world. It’s ok if that sweet baby boy won’t let you put him down. All too soon he will and you will just be glad for a phone call or short visit. Revel in the beauty all around you. There is no other time so precious!
Rebekah says
Oh, thank you for this Ann. It means more than you know. love, Rebekah
Rebekah says
Tears are streaming down my face…….I needed this reminder today. I needed this wisdom that you let God speak through you. Thank you for this sweet reminder. My babies have been sick with coughs and colds and so “Mommy makes everything better”, they have both been on me for 3 days straight and no sleep or rest for me. I have been fighting hard to not become bitter and to give everyone all I have, but I just let go and give it to God. This reminded me, it’s not permanent, it’s just a moment in time, a blink of an eye. One day they won’t think “Mommy makes everything better”, and my heart will ache for this time again. God is so great, He has gifted me with the gift of time with my babies. Even as messy and crazy it gets, it is a gift. And I praise Him for this.
Stephanie says
Such a timely post! I have two sick little ones and we had one of our hardest days ever today that had me in tears on multiple occasions… and now I’m sitting here, in tears for an entirely different reason. Thanks for the much needed reminder that even days like today are treasure. Tomorrow will be better… I’ve been saying that all day. Now, I believe it. <3
witsend28 says
True words! Great blog! The silence in the house is deafening sometimes now. One thing though, the house isn’t perfect, time still seems to fly by, and I don’t get nearly as much done as I thought I would when my kids were grown and out of the nest. I’m so glad you see this as you are going through it. So many don’t. Drink it in and soak it up!! Life is never the same again; it has a way of filling in all that time with other great things but nothing tops the days you are in! I would love to refer to this post on my homeschooling blog! If that is agreeable, please let me know. Here is my blog: http://impactapologetics.org/category/homeschool/
Kim Eggers says
Wow… Thank you SOOO MUCH for taking the time write and post that. It made my heart wrench and helped me plead to our Heavenly Father to help me love my little children more, enjoy them more, focus on them more, and be more patient with them. Thank you again. You are a wonderful and beautiful person.