Mama

To the mama nursing the baby in the guestroom while everyone else chats around the charcuterie board or clinks champagne glasses . . .

To the mama wrangling the overtired toddler who refused to eat anything except a roll at the holiday dinner . . .

To the mama trying to eat her meal off a paper plate on the counter while balancing an infant on her hip . . .

To the mama with her eye on the clock, anxiously trying to figure out how to get a nap in for her little one so she can actually get some sleep tonight . . .

To the mama who can’t finish a conversation without having to console a child or keep them from putting something in their mouths they shouldn’t . . .

To the mama who has to leave the party early so bedtime doesn’t go haywire . . .

To the mama who leaves every social engagement feeling drained and anxious instead of grateful to be with people she loves . . .

I was you once.

And I promise—it gets better.

Someday you’ll eat at the table again, and you’ll sip your drink and eat hot food and take your time.

Someday your kids will run off to play with their friends or cousins and entertain themselves.

Someday you’ll be able to linger until the party’s winding down and talk into the night with other grown-ups about grown-up things.

Someday naptimes will be a distant memory.

Someday your hands and lap will be free.

Someday these days will be long in the past.

But you’ll never forget them.

I won’t tell you you’ll miss them, because some things you just won’t.

But you’ll look back and understand they were part of a precious short and fleeting season.

And when you see a younger mom deep in the trenches of motherhood, a mom who has her hands full—you’ll reach out one of yours to help.

You’ll make sure she’s got a pillow to prop up her elbow while she’s nursing.

You’ll make her a plate and offer to hold the baby while she eats.

You won’t utter a word when she says they have to go now, it’s time for someone’s nap.

And maybe as you grab the diaper bag and help her out the door, you just might say—

“You’re doing an amazing job, Mama. These babies are beyond lucky to have you . . .

And I promise—it gets better.”