Weight gain, cravings, labor and more

Nine months of waiting – our baby is born!

Startled and screaming, all pink and squished

A boy or a girl?.... whatever is wished

There’s no book, there’s no manual, ‘What do we do?’

With a baby that cries, eats, wees and poos!

Broken sleep, unwashed hair

Tracksuits with thongs – we don’t care what we wear!

Soon though a smile, and then there’s a giggle

They’re now on the floor and they’re starting to wriggle.

Suddenly a crawl, now they’re standing up tall

Was my child ever a baby at all?

In the blink of an eye they are starting at school

And with it comes attitude, eye rolling and moods

Yet sweet little pictures and new skills to show

Of writing and numbers and reading they know.

Stories at bedtime, a kiss then lights off,

“Mum, can I have a drink? I think I’ve got a bad cough”

Then unpack the dishwasher, read some emails,

Make up the lunches, us mums never fail.

Check the home-reader, read the school app,

Lay out the uniform, find the school hat,

Time for a rest, hang on, ‘Is that someone up?’

Go back to bed, the sun isn’t up!

The washing piled high, the cleaning delayed,

What is for dinner? Is there sport on today?

The toys left out, the clothes on the floor -

These are the moments we mothers live for!

Picking up bathmats, turning out jocks

Hanging up towels, pairing up socks

Being the taxi to swimming or netball,

Picking up friends for a late game of football.

Finding sports socks, tying shoe laces,

Turning off Fortnite to angry, stunned faces

Tending to scrapes, headlice and more

These are the things that we mothers endure

Would we change a thing? Never, we say!

What? The joy of on call 24 hours a day.

Our children, we love them, every inch of their being

If only they noticed the grey hairs that we’re seeing.

But being a mother, it’s simply the best

The greatest gift ever, we all will attest,

The love that we give, is doubled in return

Our hearts overwhelmed for the child we’ve yearned.

Written by by Dianne Sharman - Mother of Lachlan, Emily and Hayden.