Aw Aleks. This hits a nerve with me. As a mum of 2 boys too I am becoming increasingly aware of how quickly the time passes and how fast they outgrow each phase of development. I cannot offer much in the way of navigating it; sometimes it's like a sudden panic washing over me, followed by intense sadness and a desire to re-experience the parts of their childhoods that have passed already. As Queen Elizabeth once said: "Grief is the price we pay for love."
Glad I stumbled upon you and I loved this first post I read. Your writing about this type of grief is profound, and I have felt it too. For me, it also is charged withy own mortality and the realization of how quickly time passes. (But then again, I'm a former CBT therapist turned hospital chaplain, so I think about mortality all the time!)
Something that helped me was posting my kids' clothes/toys/cribs,etc (just did all their Hess trucks the other day) to my local buy nothing group, and then I got to pick the people they went to and hear about how they were enjoying getting a second life!
PS - my husband is my chief editor too (and I'm his) with such different content and audiences, so that made me chuckle!
Thank you, Christine for such warm words and so great to have you, and your experience on board!
True, there is a deeper, existential layer to observing our children growing up - it's a reminder of our own time on this planet coming to an end. Which can be so overwhelming, but at the same time, refreshing (i.e. "Do I really want to waste my time in the job I hate?").
Yes, I do agree that donating clothes and toys to people I know will be re-loving them fills the void.
Aw Aleks. This hits a nerve with me. As a mum of 2 boys too I am becoming increasingly aware of how quickly the time passes and how fast they outgrow each phase of development. I cannot offer much in the way of navigating it; sometimes it's like a sudden panic washing over me, followed by intense sadness and a desire to re-experience the parts of their childhoods that have passed already. As Queen Elizabeth once said: "Grief is the price we pay for love."
Thank you for you reflection Natasha. And, I love that quote; true to the core 💕
Glad I stumbled upon you and I loved this first post I read. Your writing about this type of grief is profound, and I have felt it too. For me, it also is charged withy own mortality and the realization of how quickly time passes. (But then again, I'm a former CBT therapist turned hospital chaplain, so I think about mortality all the time!)
Something that helped me was posting my kids' clothes/toys/cribs,etc (just did all their Hess trucks the other day) to my local buy nothing group, and then I got to pick the people they went to and hear about how they were enjoying getting a second life!
PS - my husband is my chief editor too (and I'm his) with such different content and audiences, so that made me chuckle!
Thank you, Christine for such warm words and so great to have you, and your experience on board!
True, there is a deeper, existential layer to observing our children growing up - it's a reminder of our own time on this planet coming to an end. Which can be so overwhelming, but at the same time, refreshing (i.e. "Do I really want to waste my time in the job I hate?").
Yes, I do agree that donating clothes and toys to people I know will be re-loving them fills the void.
Lastly, cheers to our husbands 😁!