It is time.
It is time to retire the bassinette. The sleeping home of my three little cherubs.
It was the same bassinette that my mother slept in as an infant... the same one my sister Fiona slept in in the early 70's... the same one I slept in in the early 80's...
It has held the children of family and friends for over 65 years. It has held my children on and off for 5 years. It will probably hold the children of my sister and brother (when they have them)...
But for now it is time to retire it.
The bassinette has sat in the corner of our bedroom for 9 months now. It held Silas for basically 6 months...by far the longest of any of our babies. And has sat empty of an infant ever since.
The bassinette, like the bouncer, has since become the receptacle of miscellaneous junk... clean clothes, books, toys... it gets moved out of the way when we need to get into the cupboard against which it stands...
It is time to put it away. For the last time in this house.
But I can't.
The cynical amongst you might say that this is because I value the storage space it gives me... and to an extent they would be right... it would mean actually putting things away where they go instead of just dumping them in the bassinette at the end of the day.
But there is more to it than that.
Even though I know that Silas is my last baby, putting away the bassinette says that his early babyhood is over forever...irrevocably finished. His is 8 months old and yet he is still my tiny boy, who I cradle to feed many times a day...sustenance from my own body. He is still "Baby Silas", dwarfed so tiny next to Bede and Tabitha. He can't crawl yet so the illusion of helplessness is still there... but soon he will be off and moving. My last tiny boy will be moving towards toddlerhood, away from babyhood... away from total dependence on me for his every need.
It is sad.
But it is freeing... it is only a short time that I will have a small boy who needs sustenance only from me... a short time that I will be able to soothe him in the middle of the night with a cuddle and a feed... then I can have my sleep back... and the corner of my room... but my heart will be forever fuller... forever his.
That's just beautiful, Julia! Our children are little for such a short time. Love how you're appreciating the moments and storing the memories - as well as the bassinette :)
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