My youngest sister just had a baby pretty recently. I say recently, but Mila is about 6 months old now and she is like a real-life baby doll. At six months old, they become a little more fun. They are starting to eat baby food, sit up and perhaps become a tad bit mobile. But I also remember with my three, that is about the time that their little personalities start to shine through. Not to mention, parents are hopefully getting a little more sleep at this point, which makes everyone a lot happier in general.
My sister brought Mila over to my parents’ house last Sunday for Father’s Day. We were all just getting together to share a meal and letting all the kids run around the yard to burn some energy off in hopes that they would pass out and get a good night’s rest before we started a brand-new week.
My youngest, Kameron – and now officially my last baby – just turned three last month. Looking at Kameron, especially when she is interacting with Mila, always makes me sentimental. I always find myself wondering where those three years went. I hold the memory of her as a tiny 7-pound baby dearly in my heart, as well as my older two girls. But the older they get the harder it is to remember. Sure, big milestones like when they first learned to crawl, walk, their first day of school, losing their first tooth – all of those are easy to remember.
It’s those mundane moments of motherhood that are the hardest to recall, but in my opinion the most precious – the quick joy of a late-night run to grab ice cream, the comfort of us all piling up in bed during a thunderstorm, the instant healing of a scrape with just a quick kiss from mom.
Not to mention the constant changing of diapers, picking up messes on a daily basis and always having to decide what’s for supper. It can be draining at times and downright stressful at others, but it’s also beautiful – even those mundane moments of just everyday life.
To be honest, probably 90 percent of our lives are made up of mundane moments. Yes, we have big trips planned sometimes that we look forward to for months, big life events scattered throughout, and there is always Christmas. But overall, it is those unassuming moments that fill in the in-between and they can be truly magical if you let them.
When you look back on your childhood, what are some of the first things that you recall? When I think back, yes, I remember going to the waterpark maybe once a year, I remember big family reunions and getting our first puppy, but I also remember and deeply cherish just being outside riding bikes up and down the street with my cousins. I remember helping my mom shell peas on the front porch. I remember sneaking away to play in my aunt’s makeup. I remember little fishing trips with my dad. All those memories bring back such a level of comfort for me and stick out in my head more than anything else.
Little moments like that truly become the biggest memories. I know it is hard, but if we as parents can remember that – it makes such a difference. So, you may think you’re just spending a boring day at home, letting them sit at a table while they finger paint and just trying to get through the day, but that just might be a core memory that they sit back and reflect on as an adult – being comfortable and feeling loved in a home, surrounded by their parents, spending time doing something they love with their sisters. You never know.
There is ordinary magic that can be found in each day of your motherhood journey even through all the mess and mundane.
(Paige Gurgainers is a mother of three girls, publisher of Bienville Parish Journal and Claiborne Parish Journal and a digital journalist for Webster Parish Journal.)