Ode to Child

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This week was apparently National Son's Day and National Daughter's Day.  We will put aside the gendered issue of those titles for another deserving time, but the sentiment is understood.  In honor of our Little Man, I felt compelled to write this poem.

Ode to Child

You made your entrance in unexpected fashion, without most of the usual fanfare.
Not that we didn't want to shout from rooftops, but we had to protect our hearts until we knew we could
    give them to you forever.       
Our first days together ran into and over each other in surreal motion.
Without the familiarity of home, we all needed each other as we found our way.

Even now, you are unexpected to me -- not just day-to-day, but hour-to-hour or minute-to-minute.
Occasionally I hear you chatting to yourself or I catch a glance of you in the rearview mirror as I drive
    and am still shocked to realize I am your mother.
I love you in a way I didn't know existed, which amplifies any other emotion I feel.
Some days that love is masked by confusion as I struggle helplessly to be what you need.
Other days that love is buried under fleeting glimpses of a life that once was as I wearily carry the
    weight of both of our worlds on my shoulders.
What started as an uneasy alliance has grown into an invincible bond -- there are moments one or both
    of us fight it, but at the end of the day it's a truth.
Some days you take more from me than I have to give, but you somehow manage to return it to me
    tenfold.
Because of you I know everything and nothing at all.

Every thing about you has the force of a hurricane behind it -- your energy, your affection, your
    desire for independence, your need to be heard and understood.
Many days you are the strong one; I worry that I will never be able to put the pieces of
    your heart back together while the pieces of mine are scattered, until I realize you've combined them
    to create something new and beautiful.

I have so many wishes for you, but truthfully none of them really matter.  All I will ever want is for you
    to keep laughing, keep exploring, and keep reveling in your joy.


 



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