All Of The Selves We Have Ever Been
Menu

all of the selves we Have ever been

Rocking a Baby

7/27/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
 
Many years ago, during a lull between patients, my colleagues and I chatted.  My co-workers were all women and accomplished healthcare professionals who had raised families.  Their lives embodied success.  One of the women asked the group, “If you could go back and relive one moment from your life, what would it be?”  Without hesitation,
all of the other women answered in unison:
"a moment to rock my babies again.”

At the time, my children were young school-agers, and I was a single mom just hoping to live long enough to see my kids grow up.   Twenty years later, my children are young adults with busy lives, and I have joined the chorus.  If I could relive a moment from my life, I would choose to rock my babies again.

I would gladly take back the moments when my entire world fit into my arms, moments when no universe existed beyond my rocking chair.  I would take back those eyes that sparkled like jewels inside a small, soft head covered with damp curls.  I would breathe in the scent of those warm bodies exuding the fresh, clean smell of baby powder and innocent new life.   I would take back those moments when their eyes locked with mine and a broad grin overtook their faces, droplets of milk escaping their cupid-bow lips and sliding down their small chins.  I would delight once again in that moment of discovery and recognition, when their eyes danced saying: “It’s you! I know you!”  And they were happy to see me.  I would take back those sweet moments before the real challenges of parenting began, the moments before anything went wrong, the time before the universe expanded and the weight of the world was sometimes more than my arms could carry.

Parenting is hard work.  There are ups and downs.  Personalities emerge along with needs, talents, and health problems.  The adorable baby develops a mind and a will, and too quickly, our children enter a world outside our arms, a universe that is constantly expanding and often strange and frightening to us. All the while, we are also trying to manage the demands of work and adult life and the pressure to choose career over family.  Books, magazines, newspapers, the internet, and social media inundate us with how-to advice and images of wealthy influencers as examples for comparison.  We are constantly re-assessing and doubting ourselves.   We are robbed of joy.
​
If I were to write a book on child-rearing, it would be short:  Parenting is hard work.  It will not be easy.  You will face uncertainty.  Sometimes you will be scared to death.  But nothing in your life—past, present, or future--will ever matter more.  Ignore the mob and choose the joy.  Stock up at the beginning.  Savor the moments when the entire world fits into your arms and the universe is no bigger than your rocking chair.  

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Lilli-ann Buffin
    ​

      Get Notified of New Posts

    Subscribe

    Archives

    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020

    Categories

    All
    Acne
    Adulting
    Advertising
    Aging
    Arms
    Barbie
    Baths
    Beauty
    Beloved Community
    BINGO
    Birds
    Books
    Branding
    Bravery
    Cars
    Catching Up
    Children
    Church
    Cliches
    Clothing
    Comfy Couches
    Coping With Stress
    Coronavirus
    Death & Dying
    Diets
    Dignity
    Discernment
    Drive Ins
    Drive-ins
    Driving
    Essential Workers
    Exercise
    Faith
    Falling
    Father's Day
    Food
    Friendship
    Fruit
    Games
    Good Intentions
    Goodness
    Good Old Days
    Grace
    Graduation
    Grandparents
    Gratitude
    Hair
    Handwriting
    Health
    Heroes
    History
    Holidays
    Hope
    Houses
    Humor
    Illness
    Imagination
    Influencers
    Ironing
    John Lewis
    Knowledge
    Laughter
    Laundry
    Leadership
    Libraries
    Listening
    Lists
    MacGyver
    Madge
    Magazines
    Mail
    Masks
    Memorial Day
    Mental Illness
    Miracles
    Moral Lessons
    Mothers
    Music
    Names
    Nancy Drew
    Nature
    Neighbors
    Oreos
    Other-Mothers
    Our Stuff
    Outdoors
    Parenting
    Pets
    Phones
    Poignancy
    Prayer
    Purses
    Reading
    Recipes
    Reinvention
    Revelations
    Rewards
    Rotisserie Chicken
    Saturdays
    Saving The World
    Schools
    Shelf Life
    Showers
    Siblings
    Small Things
    Sorrow
    Speed
    Sports
    Stores
    Substance Abuse
    Success
    Sunshine
    Technology
    Toilet Paper
    Tools
    Truth
    Uncles
    Veterans
    Voting
    Walking
    War
    Water
    Weather
    Wilderness
    Wishing
    Women
    Wonder
    Work

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Other Works
  • What Readers Say
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Other Works
  • What Readers Say