Every time I’m out and about with my kids someone invariably approaches and tells me to enjoy the chaos because one day, when they’re grown, I’ll miss this. And if I’m honest, I already do, in some ways. Yes, the days are tough, the messes abound, the temper tantrums flare, and my patience is tested to limits I hadn’t previously known. But I can’t help notice that their little toes are bigger than last year, their hands more capable, their curiosity stronger, their courage greater. They already needed me a little less this year than last. It’s a relentless trend that only accelerates with each passing minute —until one day, they’ll no longer need me at all. Motherhood is a strange paradox, is it not? You spend years emptying your soul so fully it’s nearly turned inside out, and hopefully, if all goes as planned, they take every ounce of what you had to give and run … it may be one of the most selfless acts of love found in the human experience. And unlike many other heroic acts, which are immediate and momentary, motherhood is a continuous, decades long, selfless series of acts, over and over again. It’s excruciating and wonderful all at the same time. At the end of the year, I reflect … a lot 💛