By Tamara Menges 
Advice. Everyone loves to give it, whether it is solicited or not. It seems like the moment you announce you are pregnant people can’t help themselves to give you advice. Am I right? Advice on pregnancy, labor, surviving the newborn stage, how they should sleep…someone, somewhere can and will tell how to handle it.
In the short eight months I have been a mama I have been the recipient of all kinds of advice, but only truly taken one piece to heart.
“Enjoy every minute, they grow so fast.”
Boy, do they. I have been told this countless times and it’s usually by a sweet grey haired woman. It seems like there’s an air of sadness each time I hear it, almost like a warning, “you will miss it, I promise.” Perhaps it’s the wisdom they have attained by living life, raising their children and watching them bring their grandchildren into the world that has taught them just how time is to be cherished. Time is fleeting, mama.
In our fast-paced culture we have grown accustomed to finding our value in how much we can get accomplished in the shortest amount of time. As women we find our worth in “doing it all,” or at least attempting to. There was a time I was addicted to others asking me, “how do you do it all,” but the truth was that I wasn’t doing it all, because I was missing the most important lesson. Time is fleeting. You never get time back.
Becoming a mama has given me a new meaning. Gone are the days of glorifying busyness, where my worth was measured by how many items I could cram onto and successfully cross off my to-do list. I’m no longer addicted to the chaos of juggling too many projects or clients or feel the need to be doing something every minute of the day. I’ve learned to simply be still.
Becoming a mama has made me realize the beauty in being still and allowing life to unfold, as it will, instead of planning every second. I’ve only been in the mama club for such a short amount of time, but I now have a deeper respect and gratitude when I hear “enjoy every minute” and “they grow so fast” from those kind-hearted women. They do grow fast, and they will never be this little again.
I now find myself enjoying the quiet and feel at peace when I hold my baby close to nurse her when the world is bustling around me. The way her little hand gently strokes the back of mine, or the way her little fingers feel tightly wrapped around one of mine because I know she can feel that she matters. She matters more than anything on my to-do list, and certainly more than the latest post on social media. I cherish these moments, because I know they will be gone too quickly.
So today and everyday I am going to hold my sweet girl a little longer and not feel guilty about the things that don’t get done because when I become one of those grey-haired women, I want to be able to share the same wisdom with a full heart because I know that I truly did “enjoy every minute.”
by Kimberly Keys 
by Bree Sprual 
by Vicki Bahr 
by Jaybie D. 
by Brittany Moore 
by Charissa Bates 
