"One Last Time"

From the moment you hold your babies in your arms, you will never be the same. You might long for the person you were before. The person who had freedom and time and nothing in particular to worry about. You will know tiredness like you never knew it before and days will run into days that are exactly the same. Days full of feedings, gas bubbles, naps (or lack of), crying, whining, snuggling, stories, fighting, it may seem like the cycle never ends. But don't forget..... There is a last time for everything. There will come a time when you will feed your baby for the very last time because you blink and then they want to do it "all by themselves." There will be a last time you hold your sleeping child, they don't stay little and lap size forever. One day you will carry them on your hip then set them down and never pick them up that way again because with time comes growth. There will be a last time you scrub their hair in the bath, one day they will want to bathe alone. There will be a last time they hold your hand to cross the road, there comes a day when they stop reaching up for it. There will be a last time they creep into your room at midnight for cuddles. One afternoon you will sing "the wheels on the bus" and do all the actions, then never sing that song to them again because they outgrew it. There will be a last time they kiss you goodbye on the drop off at school before time has an affect and they want to go alone. There will be a last time you read a final bedtime story and wipe your last dirty face. They will run to you with arms raised for the very last time. The thing is, you won't even know it's the last time until there are no more times and even then it will still take you a while to realize it. So.... While you are living in these times, remember there are only so many of them and when they are gone, you will yearn for just one more day of them. For one last time.