Recently I was sent a rather adorable teddy bear and some Fairy washing stuff.
It’s part of Fairy’s #PowerofSoft campaign.
Time passes so quickly when they’re little. It feels like only yesterday when they were tiny newborns enjoying those super soft cuddles for hours on end and pretty soon they are starting to do all those firsts – crawling, walking and even talking! Not that the pre-school years are always easy; with sleepless nights, baby sick stained clothes and moments when it seems like they will never EVER stop crying. But a cuddle with your baby somehow makes it all worthwhile – it’s the softest they will ever be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M29rpeLka6Q
Now, I’m not creating pre school memories, because school doesn’t happen here. That doesn’t mean that I don’t register milestones though – I’m very aware that all the other children Smallest’s age started school a couple of weeks ago. My little girl is growing up – and I loved celebrating her first book with her a few weeks ago.
Tigerboy is growing up too. We’ve finally had first words. And I think we’re approaching last feed. Those lovely snuggly milky cuddles, best way to start and end a day are fading away. Tonight he forgot to ask for milk. Same last night. This morning he demanded it and I stroked his head as he nuzzled into me, cherishing that moment, knowing that it could be the last, and if not, there won’t be many more.
And once he’s done feeding, that’s it. All of them out of babyhood.
Bittersweet, parenting. Your job is to shelter, cherish, encourage, support, and eventually, let them go. The memories you build with them are to give them the foundations they need for life, but also, I suspect to keep you strong when you’re left behind. If only you could bottle that baby smell, wrap that feeling around you of soft hands clutching at you as they first grip your fingers, know when that first word will be so that you can remember it for ever.
But every single second brings another experience. Every night when we sit at the dinner table together we go round and ask how each person’s day has been. And even Tigerboy can join in now. So he tells us that he played Outside! and saw Caterpillars! and Butterflies! (and yes, everything is capitalised, with exclamation marks, he’s a very enthusiastic child.) Every day gives us more memories, and I don’t record nearly as many of them as I should on here, which was what this was all about, in the very early days.
What will you choose to remember? What are those moments that you look back on most fondly? I bet, for most people, it isn’t the huge milestones after all. It’s something unique to each and every one of us. A walk after dark in the snow. Bubbles in the garden. Jumping on sandcastles on the beach. A laugh, a song, a moment.
Got one to share?
Disclosure: this is a sponsored post.
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