Phases of Mommyhood

When my babies were born, I was overwhelmed with each of them. I delighted in their tiny fingers and toes, their every breath seemed a wonder to me, a spectacular event. Nursing them was warm and calming, changing diapers made me love them even more (oh yes, I never hated it). I made the phone calls to my mother and friends announcing every new noise or the attainment of each milestone.

Each phase of development was marked by some monumental event - Sleeping through the night! Crawling! Potty training! That was a fun one! Then came the bigger events; pre-school, kindergarten, their first sleep over! Wow, they really do grow up before your eyes! I missed each phase and wondered what would come next. Each child reached their milestones with many adults and even other children spurring them on to do more and the accolades came freely.

Then the older kids grew and the youngers one did, too, but the older ones became teenagers. Our sleepless nights were no longer carved out by cries and wimpers from the younger ones, but by minutes past curfews and strong final exam grades. They younger ones marked milestones by being old enough to test the waters by talking back and acting like teens.

I turned around one day and my oldest was almost 20, my sleepless nights were caused by hormones, and when my friends and family spoke of their new babies and milestones the thought of it made me exhausted! What?! When did I get to be my mother's age? And when did it become my turn to begin growing old?

With my youngest now 7 years old and my oldest in his second year of college, I look back on the phases of motherhood and realize I have many, many more phases ahead of me with each of our six children. I relish in the thought of having those milestones to look forward to. Afterall, when elementary graduation, high school graduations, proms, college, marriage and grandchildren come, they are all milestones, too, right? The phases of motherhood never go away, they just progress. Thank goodness. I, for one, would miss my phases of motherhood if they were to stop existing.