Moving On Day

by Alex Kuykendall

I’m packing up baby clothes again today. My youngest is out-growing the tiniest of our household’s onesies and it’s time to move her to the next size. With my older daughters, I stored the clothes away for the “next baby.” Tucking the hopes for future children into deep corners of my heart, I placed boxes of little clothes into deep corners of my basement for later. This packing feels more permanent. There probably won’t be a “next baby” for us. There is no “later” for these clothes.

Other milestones come and go with me as a passive participant: losing the umbilical cord stump, gaining head control, growing from newborn to infant. But this project requires me to take action, to be part of the moving on process.

"I find comfort in knowing
my lasts will help launch
another mom’s firsts."

When I think about these lasts I can feel my heart ache. A normal, healthy response, but one that can take over and squelch my joy in the moment if I let it. How do I celebrate each phase of mothering while gracefully letting go of those that are done? How do I as a mom keep pace with my children’s growth without resenting the speed with which they’re growing?

I make a plan to pick out a few special items for each girl to have when she’s older and box the rest to give to our local Pregnancy Resource Center for another mom and baby to use. I find comfort in knowing my lasts will help launch another mom’s firsts.

Dear God, help me to cherish the past, and give me the courage to move on and grow into the mom I’m continually becoming.

(Taken from MOPS International Mom E-Mail)