Find that Moment

‘Newborn time’ is a a big adjustment. The blur of day/night is a challenge for all new parents and does require some new skill to just be in the moment.

And hopefully, you will have moments when you see the world, and experience some wonder, in a new way. There’s a proverb that says “There is no Happiness. Only moments of happiness.” I think the trick is to string those moments together.

When our second child was ten days old, we moved across the country. Or rather, she and I flew across the country, her dad and brother and the cats drove for three days. Do not try this at home. Our apartment wasn’t ready, the movers were late and we were a bit too transient for postpartum me. Nonetheless, I have sweet memories of sitting by a window at 3 a.m with my nursing baby…. Quiet, calm, my family resting and finally I could just be…with her.

Here is a lovely poem by Joy Gonsalves about a moment… with or without an infant.

Song at Dawn

The sun in stripes across the air
this morning brings
that comfort I only know
once a season.

The moment has arrived
before the day.
The church bells are far enough away;
their toll is a deep and resolute note
on a horizon quieter than the tide.

And I have confidence

that not even a dog’s determined bark,
or the early bird’s announcement
at the window of my sleeping children
will reach this deaf house.

Clothes not yet worn,
folded in their drawers;
the coffee unmade, still in the cupboard;
not one fallen foot.

If in minutes, we will dirty another day—
for the moment I can lie still
and count my solitary breaths,
rise up and say something
without being heard,

or close my eyes and return to Ireland.

Joy Gonsalves