The Long Days and Sleepless Nights of Motherhood

By Cayla Solomon

During the long days and sleepless nights of motherhood, it sometimes feels as though time is standing still. I remember being so annoyed by the number of people who would tell me to “enjoy every moment” when I was in the sleepless haze of early parenthood, feeling as though my struggles were being minimised by those longing for the days of holding their babies in their arms.

Though those comments were far from helpful, I now understand where they were coming from.

“The days are long, but the years are short” must have been coined by a parent looking back at how quickly time passed when raising children.

I still call my youngest my baby; it doesn’t feel as though he is anything else, and yet, that tiny little human resting peacefully on my shoulder is now a busy, rambunctious toddler approaching his second birthday this weekend.

I truly don’t understand where the time has gone.

As has become our bedtime ritual, I crawl into bed with my daughter each night before bed and she asks me a million questions. Last night, she must have sensed my state of reflection, because she had one simple question:

“Mommy, what did you feel the first minute you met me?”.

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