I’ve been listening to Mary Louise Kelly’s book, “It. Goes. So. Fast”, while taking my newborn son on walks around my neighborhood. It’s a book about a parent’s journey during her son’s senior year of high school, which makes for quite the contrast from my day-to-day. It’s tough to imagine my son graduating from high school — something that should happen in the year 2041! — but I know the years will go by fast.
It’s certainly been my experience so far. To be a parent to a newborn is to live on a schedule completely untethered from normal time. There are no clocks on newborn time; we operate hour to hour. There have been a lot of 4 a.m. feedings, and a lot of late nights. Time isn’t something we obey anymore — it just kind of happens while you’re busy with the baby.
But to operate on newborn time is to also live in the moment, as much as you can. The baby will never be this small again. They’ll never smell the way a newborn smells, or smile the way a newborn smiles. There is no going back; there are no do-overs.
And it’s an amazing reminder: Be present. Pay attention. Celebrate the moment.
It will be gone soon, and fast.
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That image of cars blurring past on the highway comes via Jake Givens and Unsplash.