Guest Blogger: Stephanie Grace Whitson

Writers are often asked how they got started … or how long they’ve been a writer. I usually answer that question by saying that I have always written. Even when I was in junior high, I loved writing. And I aspired to being published when I was a young mother, although in those days my dreams of grandeur were more in the area of non-fiction. I really didn’t think about writing stories until my children were “half-grown” as they say. Here they are when we lived in the country and the Lord opened the world of fiction writing to me.

This was in the 1990s. It is interesting to me that I had learned to be content as a full time Mom by then. I’d given over the idea of ever being published—other than a poem here, a devotional there. I’d realized that full time parenting was its own calling, and I embraced it with everything in me, because I began to realize how quickly I was going to be out of a job when it came to parenting.

So today, I thought I’d share a poem I wrote back then (it appeared in a now defunct women’s magazine), in hopes that, if you have babies and kids around, and if sometimes you are tempted to feel trapped (and of course we all do … it’s normal!) it will encourage you to savor the moment. Because before you know it … they’re gonna walk right out of your house and start a life of their own.

            A Lesson—Too Late

Had I known how quickly they would grow,

I would have cherished the moments more.

Those still, dark hours of night

When there was only me

     and the smallest cheek to touch.

I would have marveled more at the utter satin-softness

     and grumbled less about the lost sleep.

Had I known how quickly they would grow,

We would have rocked and cuddled close

     long after sleep returned

To close those infant eyes.

I would have hummed more tunes

     into the hush of night.

But nights grew long, and I soon lost

The joy of my night watch.

I longed for my own pillow, then,

And hastily rocked, rushed back to bed.

And now they are gone—those quiet nights

While Brooke, or Zach, or Shannon

    lay in my arms, holding tight

To my robe, lest I leave.

Now Brooke is grown—and Zach too busy being “stwong”

To cuddle much.

And Shannon learns to crawl away

And sleeps the night. “At last!” I think.

So uninterrupted nights return and

    I’m ashamed to learn

That I shed tears for those quiet times, forever gone,

Of nuzzling and baby grunts and sighs.

My infant days are over now—

     A new season of life unfolds.

But I would have cherished those night much more—

Had I known.

You’ll probably get a kick out of knowing that I got a chance to make good on my nostalgic emotions. Note that there are four children in the photo, and only three mentioned in the poem. Ah, yes. We got a surprise. And yes, I did cherish the moments of the “night watch” with baby #4. As for Brooke, who was already acting so grown-up when I wrote this poem, she is a happy full time Mom with two of her own babes to love now. Zach, who was busy being “stwong” is still strong—a home builder with two of his own children. Shannon, who was “crawling away” crawled (not really) all the way into a career as a singer/songwriter (hear her here: www.shannonlabrie.com), and Max? Well, Max has his own “night watch” now with his darling daughter.

It all happened at the speed of light. So if you are a Mom tempted to feel impatient, take it from me. Cherish those moments. They will be gone before you know it, and there will plenty of time for God to make your other dreams come true.

Stephanie

www.stephaniewhitson.com

www.footnotesfromhistory.blogspot.com