Time

I swore I would never be one of those moms that, at every month or milestone, said something along the lines of "I can't believe she's already _____!"  That's because I always thought Of course I can believe it! That's what time does.  It moves at the same rate for everyone.  That was before I was a mom, and now I see that somehow babies get 3 minutes per regular second.  As we are approaching the 7 month mark, I can't help but look back and wonder where the time went.  I guess it went to the same place where everyone else's time went.  In the black hole of minutes and hours spent on things that we wish we could do over and over or never again.  This feeling is strange to me because there were days and weeks when Maggie was tiny that felt like they would never end.  The early morning hours trying my best to feed a screaming, uncooperative infant when all I wanted was to sleep.  The rides home in the car when she just wasn't having the carseat any longer.  That first night in the hospital when nurses kept coming in every hour or so to check on either me or her.  Throughout Maggie's life so far, I have found myself thinking Once we can just get her routine established... or Once she can eat solids... or Once she can crawl or walk or just do more...  and I have to stop myself.  As exciting as those things are and will be, they signify the reality that time keeps moving.  She will grow and learn and walk and talk when she is supposed to.  As I see posts on Facebook of moms sending their babies off to college, I can't help but think that they, too, were in my position years ago.  They had long days and nights rocking crying babies when all they wanted was a quiet moment alone.  They ate cold meals because as soon as they sat down, they were needed by someone else.  They spent countless hours helping with book reports and homework that was put off until the last minute.  I doubt any of them look back and regret doing any of those things.  I know I won't.  What I will regret is not taking advantage of the time I have with her, just wishing she would just get to the next stage.  I want to be fully present in every moment I have with her, because time doesn't slow down, especially for babies.