By Caitlin Henderson 
A mama always thinks she has more time.
As she brings that first baby home from the hospital, the words of mamas who came before her ring in her ears. It goes so fast.
But a mama thinks she has more time.
As she rocks that baby in the midnight hours, she wonders how those first few weeks and months went by so quickly. She remembers those words from the mamas before her. It goes so fast.
She gets her first glimpse into just how true those words are.
But a mama always thinks she has more time.
The mama sits on the floor, yelling and cheering, stretching out her arms as her baby takes their first wobbly steps towards her.
She pulls that baby against her chest, feeling the heaviness of his weight, and wondering where that tiny baby went. And once again, she remembers those words. It goes so fast.
But a mama always thinks she has more time.
She wipes the tears from her eyes as she holds that baby’s hand and marches into preschool. She watches a piece of her heart walk away, and she wonders how it went so fast.
She thought she had more time with her baby, but that baby grew in the blink of an eye.
A mama always thinks she has more time.
A few more years and babies later, the mama holds back tears as she looks at the disassembled crib leaning against the wall.
She remembers those excited parents-to-be as they sat on the floor putting that crib together years ago. She rubbed her bulging belly as she wondered who that little baby inside of her would grow up to be, and she couldn’t wait to see him in that crib.
Now she looks at the pieces of that crib, covered in scratches and wear, and thinks about each one of her babies who used that crib, and she wonders where the time went. She thought she had more time.
But a mama always thinks she has more time.
She sits in the audience with a tissue in her hands, and the proudest smile on her face. She sees that baby up on stage in a cap and gown, and she wonders where the time went. She thinks back to the words of those mamas before her. It goes so fast.
Her heart beats in her chest with a mixture of pride and pain. She wanted just a little more time. She knows she couldn’t keep them forever, but she thought she had a little more time.
The saying is true from all those mamas before us.
It goes so fast.
They grow in the blink of an eye.
But a mama always thinks she has more time.
This post originally appeared on Faith, Farming, and Family
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