*Five Minute Friday is an initiative set up by Lisa-Jo Baker over at Surprised by Motherhood. It has now been taken over by Kate over at Heading Home. The basic premise is to take the word Kate gives and write, non-stop for 5 minutes. Then you stop and post. Read more about it here.
Collect
GO
The days are long but the years are short.
Oh, how true that saying is.
There are days, long, difficult days, that feel like they might never end.
And yet, another birthday comes around and I am in awe at how quickly the time has passed.
It doesn’t always help to hear those who look those rose-tinted glasses tell me to enjoy them now when those long and difficult days are in full swing.
But when I see how quickly these children are growing before my eyes, I realise that one day, I will probably say the same to other young mothers.
Because trying to hold on to them where they are is like trying to catch raindrops. Those beautiful, fragile, crystal-clear or murky as mud moments, the good, the bad. They come as quick as a thunderstorm and pass as soon as a springtime shower.
All I can do is collect.
As I enjoy the small moments, and revel in the love and joy and kindness and strength that radiates from these little children of mine, I know that these fleeting moments pass, to be replaced by new ones.
And every year, every month, every day, every minute, every second, they grow. And they slip a little more from my fingers.
It is the way it is supposed to be.
But that doesn’t make it easy.
All I can do is collect.
Collect the memories, store the moments, print the photos, pore over the art, get lost in the smiles.
I am a collector of laughter, of tears, of little moments. Of aches, pains, joy, comfort.
I am a mother.
STOP
