This Season of Missing Out Won’t Last Forever

I’m in a season of missing out.
That, and a season of not brushing my hair (obvs).

Sometimes it feels as though I’ve been here for years now, and realistically speaking, I guess I have.

Having three babies in under four years means being pregnant, or nursing, or mothering a baby⁠—or any combination of those three things⁠—for almost five.

Right now the rest of my family is outside eating burgers and roasting marshmallows around a summer’s eve campfire. I looked forward to this evening⁠—heck, I chose the menu and bought the chocolate for the s’mores.

And yet . . . my dinner is getting cold on the counter and I’m tied up listening to the playful giggles of my little guys outside while I’m inside on bedtime duty with their sweet baby sissy who has fallen asleep and been woken up twice now (I’m looking at you, dog #1 and dog #2).

Now hear me out. I know there’s someone out there reading this thinking, “Lady, SUCK. IT. UP. You chose to have kids. You chose the work that comes with motherhood.”

And you know what? You would be 100 percent right.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not tough.

That doesn’t mean that sometimes the feeling of sitting on the sidelines while we tend to our precious responsibilities isn’t tiring.

That doesn’t mean we don’t look forward to stepping out of the trenches of early motherhood and enjoying these types of moments WITH our babes.

I think every mom under the sun has felt this way at some point, so I’m here to say:

Me too.

You’re not alone.

We love our babies with our whole hearts (so much).
We would do absolutely anything for them (in a heartbeat).
We are honored⁠—so unbelievably honored⁠—to be mothers (always).

But sometimes it’s a tough pill to swallow feeling like we’re sitting on the outside while we watch our families play, or take a raincheck on ladies’ night, or say no to that event we realllllllly would love to go to, but just can’t swing because our babies come first.

If you’re here, too, mama . . .

If you’re tired.

If you’re feeling lost somewhere in the trenches.

If you’re wishing your babies could stay tiny forever while simultaneously looking forward to the day you can recapture a bit of your life outside of motherhood.

And if you’re feeling a little down after another weekend of hanging out on the sidelines . . . I hope to leave you with some encouragement tonight.

Because this season of missing out?

It won’t last forever.

This post originally appeared on Bouncing Forward with Casey Huff

 

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