Hi friends,
I have decided to do a little experimenting here. I’m starting a series of short notes documenting the small changes in everyday life that propel me into a new season of motherhood. Our Seasons will be a place to put all the small moments of change that don’t warrant a long post. I hope you enjoy the little insights Our Seasons will offer and that they may help you reflect on your own seasons and just how often they change in this time of life.
Tansie xx
My oldest son pedalled his bike for the first time without training wheels. We stood out in the dusty, unsealed street, watching his dad hold him as he started spinning the pedals. His little voice called “Let go” and he was off.
We watched, our faces bursting with pride. His grin hardly contained the joy of his achievement.
Within 15 minutes he was cycling 20 metres on his own. And by the evening he was able to start himself off without help. Every time he encountered a little frustration I reminded him that learning to ride was hard and that he could do hard things. These magic words seem to do the trick and he persevered.
His dad and I shared joy-filled glances. The two of us had somehow co-created this being who could now ride a bicycle!! It was beyond wonder.
Visions of him riding off with the kids in the village (something his training wheels haven’t quite allowed him yet) flooded my mind. They filled me with equal parts excitement and fear.
I turned to Matt and said “This is it. He’s a kid now.” Our first baby, a month off turning four was now a kid. Not a toddler or a little one. He will soon be off on his own adventures with this newfound freedom.
And just like that a new season of life has started. One where we will have to set boundaries of how far he can go, and work out the consequences when he no doubt breaks those boundaries—a season of now having a kid.
Our toddler is now starting to drop some day naps and is out of night nappies. Our world is shifting. They say the time is gone before you know it. But in the depth of the sleepless nights, the millions for nappy changes and the complete dependence it seemed too impossible that these little ones would ever be anything but tiny.
But I’m here to tell you, as all mothers who have come before, that the seasons end and shift. Some seasons are harder than others. Some are shorter than we want. This is what it is to be a parent—keeping up with the wheel of time that spins at an inconsistent pace. Giving us the long winters that turn to spring too soon and leave us looking back and reminiscing with a romantic view on the candlelit dark days when they fit perfectly into the crook of your arm.
Join me in the comments and let me know what seasons you are currently in or shifting into?
My eldest has just learned to ride a bike without training wheels as well! All of the sudden we find ourselves having to set rules and boundaries of not riding on the street and navigate playing with the “older” kids who may or may not have a bad influence. It really does come up on you so fast!
Equal parts excitement and fear—yes, that’s exactly it. My own little one just discovered his ability to climb into the pasture where dwell our fiesty teenage heifer and some not-so-gentle sheep. He bolts for the fence every chance he gets. Not quite a kid, but definitely trying to get there as fast as possible.