(grand) mothering

Oh, how the memories of mothering two little ones had dimmed. The tiny sweetness of two babies ... their constant needs that utterly exhaust mom and dad … the days and nights that mesh together without end until at last some semblance of a schedule starts to take shape.

As a young mother, I needed a schedule badly and my little ones did, too. The perpetual-motion toddler and nursing newborn took every ounce of my fortitude. But they also helped me tap a previously-unknown depth of love and devotion from inside myself. And it was wonderful.

And so, as a grandmother now to two little ones, those memories of wondering how I’d make it through another day come rushing back as I chase an impish Ari and snuggle a sleeping Ashlyn. I exert only a fraction of the energy I see in my son and daughter-in-love, but how I cherish this time.

Thank you, God, for this chance to be with babies again: at once familiar but also so new.