Dear Blue Glider,
I tried really, really, really hard to make the kids want to sit and rock with me as badly as I wanted to sit with them for as long as possible.
But the inevitable has happened. The rocking days are over.
So thank you.
Thank you for being the calm and quiet constant in our days for the past ten years.
Thank you for being the place where my children and I read Goodnight Moon and Pat the Bunny and How Does a Dinosaur Eat His Food? and all of Richard Scarry’s Nursery Rhymes and Brown Bear Brown Bear and The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Big Red Barn and The Mitten and The Hat and Bear Snores On a thousand times each.
Thank you for being the place where I sang lullabies and Christmas songs before bed, just one more time.
And then, just one more time again.
Thank you for giving me some of the most intimate, quiet, and peaceful moments I will ever have with my kids.
Thank you for being the place where I nursed and soothed sick babies.
For being the place where I could sit alone and just enjoy my little guys.
Thank you for providing the place where I got to spend some of the warmest and fuzziest and absolute best moments of my life.
Really.
I mean it.
I don’t know how this moment got here so quickly, but it did.
And a little part of me died today.
I mean that, too.
Taking you out of the house signifies the end of a phase of my life that is gone forever.
I know there will be lots more memories and many more amazing times with the kids.
But they won’t be the same.
And to be honest, if I could just have one more night holding each of my kids while you held us, I would take it in a heartbeat.
And I would stay up all night.
Just sitting.
And singing.
And reading.
And rocking.
Thank you for taking care of me and my family, Blue Glider.
You were a good friend.
And I am really, really, really going to miss you.
Beautifully said…and now I feel guilty that I never enjoyed my time in the rocker…I was always somewhere else in my mind…oh to go back for moment, a night, and have a chance to experience it again…thanks for sharing…
I didn’t know blue glider personally but I can tell how much joy she brought to your family x
We have grey glider (new for surprise baby bay #3). I never thought I would have the chance to “glide” again but I am SO THANKFUL for it. When we glide tonight and I sing and read, I will make sure I am fully present and enjoy the time. He is already 8 months old, my last, late-in-life baby, and I cannot fathom where those 8 months have gone,
My oldest son is off jumping out of airplanes in the military and will turn 21 next month. My 17 year old daughter will turn 18 in August and head off to her new life in college. I am so thankful to have been blessed with this surprise little one who still loves to glide with me.
Great post. I will be sure to treasure my ‘gliding’ moments even more after reading this. I am too quick to rush to get back to the dishes, laundry, email, etc. A good reminder that the rocking days eventually end.
Wow! I have just stumbled across your AWESOME article about not raising as***s and LOVED it! I’m on kid No 2 and staying firmly at that! But boy do I AGREE with EVERY WORD you said in your post. I have a very similar parenting philosophy and am often considered a little on the “tough” side by me fellow Mums (none with more than 3 kids i might add). I am still holding on to my breastfeeding chair as Mia is only 2.5yrs and we read stories and hv cuddles in it. David, our 6.5yr old LOVES to hv a cuddle with me all curled up in my arms like a baby 🙂 I just imagined the day this chair will leave our home: it will be an end of an era… And i’m not ready for it yet – despite being VERY busy w my thriving life coaching practice. I’m looking forward to reading more of yr posts!!!