Seasons come, seasons go....

I wrote this on May 9, 2006, and it still resonates so deeply within me.

Seasons come, seasons go....

It's days like these where I can visibly see how motherhood has changed me. I was, and I stress was, the girl who slept in regularly, needed 8 hours of sleep, and ran at my own pace. I swear I don't even know who that girl is, nor do I ever really remember what it was really like to be her. Let's call her "Mary 5.0" for now for a sake of reference. Sophia was up last night from 2:30 until 4:45am screaming. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night and this morning, awaking haggard and fuzzy-eyed, still sang the good-morning song as I marched into Sopher's room at 6:45am and joyfully tickled her belly as I changed her diaper. This person who is able to even sing at 6:45am I do recognize and she is no longer friends with Mary 5.0 because she is new and improved Mary 7.1 and also, depending on the day/night, comes in a version that is much more efficient called Mary ME. This Mary 7.1 does have some glitches, such as picking fights at 3am with her husband, and secretly eating baby food carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes, but is truly a nicer version to work with. Additionally, she comes with a "I won't yell at you while you're driving 15 miles under the speed limit in the fast lane" button (because there are children in the car) and a "it's ok that you spit up on my dry-clean-only sweater, I didn't like it anyway" lever. Much better. Maybe not as young and fun and carefree, but much more dependable, reliable, and more adept at managing the obstacles life throws at you.

I suppose you could say that if you never change with the changing seasons of your life, you become boring and annoying (like the girls, who, at 30, still go out Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights) and really show your inability enjoy where you are at the moment.

Where am I right now? Tired, hungry, stinky, demanded upon, imposed upon, and I need to go because I am aching to pick up my beautiful baby girl who has made the sacrifice all worth while.

I love this season.