Monday Mama: These Moments Are For You

Today’s Monday Mama is my cute friend Heather. She is originally from California and currently living in Utah. She graduated with a teaching degree at BYU, taught for a few years, and just recently had the sweetest babe.

This is her story.

“As I lay in bed the other night, trying to quiet my racing mind, I couldn’t stop thinking of all the things I needed to get done, the stuff I had forgotten, the dinner I hadn’t made that day and the healthier food I should have given my baby for a snack instead of the bazillion crackers she begged for. I realized I still hadn’t taken “9 month old” pictures of her, and she’s already halfway to being 10 months old now. I thought of the clothes I should put her in more often before she grows out of them. I wept thinking of the minutes I had wasted on my computer or phone instead of playing with her. I felt like I was failing her as a mother because I wasn’t reading enough books to her or using enough sign language while I had the chance to teach her. And it all just got so overwhelming, so quickly.

Then, out of nowhere, the thought hit me: These beginning years of our child’s life is not for them. They have no memory, no recollection of these early stages. This time is for us, the parents!

Our child won’t remember the things we did to make them laugh or the times we messed something up. They won’t remember what they wore coming home from the hospital, or what solid food they tried first. They quickly forgot the bumps and bruises they inevitably received as they developed and learned. Our children only know what they looked like because of the pictures and videos we made the time to capture. All the worry and work we go through in these first days, weeks, months, years…It’s all important, but it’s mostly important only to us, the parents, because WE are the ones who will remember.