7!

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I was woken up quite early this morning by a loud knock on my door, someone needed to come in and use the mirror. She turns 7 today and she needed to check whether she had grown taller during the night. After a few twists and turn in front of the mirror she declared “I feel bigger! and I am so tall I can’t see my feet in the mirror”. It’s a table top mirror nobody can see their feet in it but there can’t be any raining on people’s parades on their birthday. So yes she’s bigger and taller and I am older!

Time flies. I know that’s such a cliche but it really does. And nothing reminds me of it more than celebrating my child’s birthday, I mean I don’t feel like I have changed that much physically, if I ignore the few gray strands that are bringing kajanja but when I think that it’s been 7 years already I marvel at how quickly time flies. I remember it like it was yesterday, me standing in front of a mirror looking at my very flat belly and wondering whether the lab results saying I was 7 weeks ‘paged’ were a joke. And then wondering when it would get big so I could start wearing maternity clothes hehe. The bulge took it’s time. As did the labour, 36+ hours. With everything taking it’s sweet time one would assume that the process of growth would be the same. Nothing!

Once they are out, you blink and they are crawling. Blink again and they are running and then talking non-stop and asking endless questions. No level of smartness can cover the whys of a 4 or 6 year old. They will drive you nuts but ironically many times they will be the very reason you stay sane. When work gets tough and money gets scarce, when life just refuses to be pliable as it often does and pushes you to the edge, you might want to give up but then you remember that it’s no longer about just you. There’s a little person who depends on you keeping it together. In their eyes you can not fail, they don’t even know failure so how can you? You gather your marbles together and keep going. Then you win.

I have learned more from being a mother than anything else I have ever done. It’s the hardest course done at the university of life. And it doesn’t come with lectures or notes, just course work and tests. But it’s a lot of fun! I have learned a lot about myself because she is so different from me and also from watching not just her but all the children in my life. The life of a child is one open space filled with endless possibilities. It’s full of colour and brightness. They never approach life from a negative point of view. Children speak the language of love everyday and they will teach you the art of forgiveness better than anyone ever will. I am blessed to be learning from mine even as I hold her hand through life.

Tonight, chocolate cake (she loves everything chocolate) will be cut and eaten without apologies or worrying about waistlines. Those were sacrificed 7 years ago. As we raise our glasses later, we will be praying for many more years full of her seemingly endless sunshine and energy.

Happy Birthday Keza.