I should be sleeping, because tomorrow is a big day for Playful Acorns: our first official Pop-Up Play Cafe!
Instead, I'm awake replaying the walk that Z and I shared this evening.
It wasn't long. Maybe 15 minutes. Barely a block. Mostly spent flipping through pages of Corduroy, Eye Spy, and space board books found in a Little Free Library near the park. Chatting with neighbors also enjoying the mild weather. Nothing unusual.
But it was this moment, when we first set out from our yard to the sidewalk, that I noticed it.
The change of seasons.
Yes, the leaves are starting to turn colors, fall, and crunch beneath our feet. It's something I expect to happen this time of year.
Being a mom brings a whole new meaning to the word season. We're told over and over as newbies from "seasoned" and well-meaning parents and grandparents that... "It's just a phase." "It won't last forever." "Enjoy it while you can." "Wait until you find out what's next." Sometimes I bristle hearing these words. Sometimes I smile. Sometimes I find myself saying them, too.
Yet the way her tiny hand wraps around my finger like it did when she was born makes me wonder how she's somehow already running with legs that seemed to be wobbly just yesterday. The way she laughs when she experiences something fun and declares "running!" and strings together other words to express herself makes me wonder how we understood each other when she could only cry or look at me with her beautiful brown eyes. Everything feels so new and so familiar all at once. Raw and bittersweet.
In all seasons of caregiving, Playful Acorns welcomes you. Let's wonder together.
Comments