It’s Hard to See from the Trenches

When you’re in the throes of motherhood and you can’t see an end in sight, sometimes you feel as though you’ll never make it out of the trenches with a shred of sanity. You’re pretty sure you’ll be changing diapers, waking up at all hours of the night, and cooking food your kids won’t eat for the rest. of. your. life.

But then one day you wake up and it hits you. You’ve made it through.

The blankie she used to drag literally everywhere, now sits folded neatly on her bed.

The thumb you were convinced she’d always suck has graduated from self-soother to its intended opposable purpose.

Every word he used to perfectly mispronounce, the ones you never wanted to correct, now leave his lips as though he’d never said them wrong in the first place.

“Mommy can you help me” has been replaced with “Mom, I can do it.”

The days of diapers have long since been replaced with big kid undies.

Everyone eats the meals you make.

And you wake up sans dark circles feeling well-rested because no one wakes you anymore to chase away monsters, rub away growing pains, fetch a drink, or snuggle because they “just want ya mama.”

It’s hard to see from the trenches, when two days feel more like two years, but one day you’ll turn a corner. You’ll wake up and by the grace of God, you’ll have made it through. And in that moment, you’ll feel a little sad as you look back fondly, barely remembering the struggle. But you’ll also be so filled with joy as you look to what’s ahead with those precious memories tucked away in your heart.